Armed Secret Service agents stand in front of one of the entrances to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on August 8, 2022. TERRY RENNA / AP
Former US President Donald Trump announced Monday, August 8, that his famous Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, had been “ransacked” by the Federal Police (FBI). “Our nation is living in dark times, my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida is under siege and has been raided and occupied by numerous FBI agents,” he said in a statement, claiming to be the victim of the “political persecution”.
“Having worked and cooperated with the appropriate government agencies, this unannounced search of my home was neither necessary nor appropriate,” he said.
“They even broke into my safe!” ‘ Donald Trump said indignantly. The FBI has not yet confirmed this search. The Republican did not give the reasons for this police operation. It is directly or indirectly related to several ongoing legal proceedings.
The way the billionaire managed his official documents while he was in the White House is the focus of several investigations. The former president is accused of deliberately neglecting some of his files before their mandatory transmission to the US National Archives.
Presidential documents found at his home in February
According to several American media, this federal authority had asked the American judiciary to initiate an investigation into these facts. She had to recover fifteen boxes of documents Donald Trump took with him when he left Washington in January 2021 at the Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida.
Inside these boxes are letters from Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a map of the United States that was the subject of a stormy exchange with the American Weather Service, but also, according to the Washington Post, several documents labeled “Secret Defense.” .
Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla. in 2017. WILFREDO LEE/AP
The National Archives assert that the Republican had no right to leave with those boxes: under a 1978 law, every American president must submit all his emails, letters, and other working documents to this agency, which is responsible for their preservation.
Another important case that could worry Donald Trump is a parliamentary committee trying to shed light on the role the billionaire played in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. That day, hundreds of his supporters had sowed violence and chaos at Congressional headquarters, delaying confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory. The Justice Department is investigating the attack but has not yet filed charges against the former president.
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At the end of July, however, Attorney General Merrick Garland had not ruled out that possibility. “We intend to hold accountable those who are criminally responsible [son rôle dans] the events around January 6, in any attempt to disrupt the legal transfer of power from one government to another,” he said. Donald Trump, still hugely popular with Republicans, is increasingly flirting with the idea of running for president in 2024.
Donald Trump press release, August 8, 2022. DONALDJTRUMP.COM