Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrate near his home in Mar-A-Lago August 8, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Getty Images
Former US President Donald Trump said in a statement Monday that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents searched his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. According to reports The inspection was part of an investigation into the handling of top-secret presidential documents.
“Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach is currently under siege, raid and occupation by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in the statement, noting that “never has anything like this happened to a President of the United States before.” ” .”.
According to Eric Trump, the tycoon’s third son, the taping focused on a Justice Department investigation into possible misuse of government secrets after the former president brought several boxes of classified documents to his apartment as he was leaving the White House. . .
“The purpose of the raid, they said, was because the National Archives wanted to verify whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession,” the former president’s son told Fox News.
“And my dad worked with them for months. In fact, the lawyer who worked on it was completely surprised. He says, ‘I have such an amazing relationship with these people and suddenly out of the blue they send 20 cars and 30 agents.’”
What are they saying about the government?
The National Archives and Records Administration noted in January this year that at the end of his term Trump had taken home 15 boxes from the White House containing government documents, memorabilia, gifts and letters to the Mar-a-Lago complex.
The boxes contained material subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires all documents and records related to official business to be turned over to the archives.
After Trump returned the boxes to the National Archives, His archivists found documents containing “items marked as classified national security information.”the agency reported to Congress in February.
The House Oversight Committee, which is leading the Congressional investigation into the abused documents, released a statement from its Chair, New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, emphasizing that “Presidents have a solemn duty to protect the national security of the United States, and allegations that former President Trump compromised our security through misuse of classified information deserve rigorous scrutiny.”
Although the National Archives had seized White House records from Mar-a-Lago in recent months, multiple sources indicate the FBI had to verify that nothing had been left behind.
The search began early Monday morning and FBI agents appeared to be focusing on the area of the club where Trump’s offices and personal quarters are located, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
However, several White House officials told the same outlet that the search was unreported and that President Joe Biden was not aware of it until it was reported in the news..
Separately, law enforcement agencies told ABC News that the FBI’s activities on the Trump compound were court-approved.
Also, a senior official briefed on the events said the Secret Service was only notified by the FBI just before the agents arrived. The secret service confirmed the search warrant and facilitated access to the apartment in accordance with a court order, the official said.
The former president was not present during the raid. He was at Trump Tower in New York, a person familiar with the situation told Politico. Trump was informed of the raid by his son Eric.
USA, a “Banana Republic”
The FBI raid in Mar-a-Lago came as Trump weighed an increasingly likely third White House offer. It’s a statement The tycoon denounced the raid as “arming the justice system” and an attempt to prevent him from running for president again in 2024.
The actions were quickly condemned by some Republican governors, who were quick to back Trump’s message that the Justice Department was being used against him.
They also criticized the poor performance of the US judicial system in investigating people associated with the current administration, such as Hillary Clinton or Hunter Biden.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a staunch Trump ally, tweeted that the search was “unprecedented political instrumentalization by the Justice Department.” “Using the criminal justice system in this way is un-American,” he wrote.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis commented to networks that the crackdown is “another escalation of federal weapon use against political opponents of the regime while treating the likes of Hunter Biden with kid gloves,” qualifying the US as a “banana republic.”
“Hey FBI, is there any interest in Hunter Biden’s laptop? Asking about a friend of mine who was searched today,” commented Kari Lake, a candidate for Arizona governor, on Twitter.
Demonstrations in support of Trump
The FBI raid also prompted a few dozen Trump supporters to gather outside his private residence in Palm Beach in support of the former president.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump demonstrate near his home in Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on August 8, 2022. Photo: Getty Images
Supporters of former President Trump gather in front of Trump Tower in New York on March 8, 2021. Photo: RT/Contributor
(Taken from Russia Today)
See also:
Trump claims FBI agents raided his Florida residence