Donald Trump, former President of the United States said the FBI on Monday stormed his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida without prior notice and searched it thoroughly.
Trump who made the disclosure in a statement said his Palm Beach summer home was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
He also revealed that the agents broke his safe open during the raid.
The former president lamented that, “After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies said ‘this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.”
Carrying out a search of this magnitude requires the signoff of a federal judge, who issues a warrant based upon evidence of a potential crime.
It is rarely possible that high-profile warrant to search the personal residence of the former president would be sought without top Justice Department officials reviewing the evidence and approving the request.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the former president was in New York City area, adding that the search happened in his absence.
Trump alleged that “the search is an attempt to influence the midterm elections in November and compared it to the Nixon campaign bugging the Democratic National Committee during the Watergate scandal.”
Truthlive.net recalls that many of Trump’s former administration officials hadtestified before a grand jury recently as part of the Justice Department investigation into the events around the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Although it is not clear if the search is connected to that or to other Trump-related investigations, including the potential destruction and removal of presidential records that took place when he left office.
Meanwhile the National Archives and Records Administration recovered 15 boxes of official records from Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.
Some of the records were said to have been tagged classified or top secret, others of which were reportedly destroyed.
Furthermore, the agency, which is tasked with preserving the records for the public under the Presidential Records Act, also asked the Justice Department to determine whether charges were warranted.
Timothy A. Naftali, a presidential historian at New York University said, “the scene was set for this kind of dramatic move when it became clear Trump had taken documents with him to Mar-a-Lago.”
“The potential punishment for improperly concealing or destroying presidential records is a fine, up to three years imprisonment and having to forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”
Latest by next few weeks, Trump is expected to announce his desire to seek another term.
Recall that the current Attorney General Merrick Garland was appointed by President Joe Biden and Trump appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray.
A spokesman for the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol refused to speak on the incident when asked.
In the same vein, the committee’s investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election is ongoing, with hearings expected to resume in September.
The Justice Department has been tight-lipped about the target of its ongoing investigation, though Garland has emphasised that no one will be above the law.
A White House official said on background that the administration was not informed of the search in advance.
Biden has said little about the Jan. 6 hearings and has been careful not to comment about his predecessor’s potential legal liability, stating repeatedly that the Justice Department operates with complete independence.
Trump’s immediate politicisation of the raid is no surprise considering his past responses to a special counsel investigation, two impeachments and the other ongoing federal inquiries into his business dealings.
He is no longer constitutionally immune to prosecution as a sitting president.