Former President Donald Trump said late on August 8 that his Florida home Mar-a-Lago was “under siege” and “occupied by a group of FBI agents”.
“These are dark times for our nation as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a post on Truth. Social.
“After working and cooperating with the appropriate government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate,” Trump said.
The FBI declined to comment on a press inquiry by The Epoch Times. Its parent agency, the Department of Justice (DOJ), did not respond to a request for comment.
Eric Trump, one of Trump’s sons, said the raid was conducted to see if his father possessed any documents from his time in office, adding that the former president has been cooperating with the National Archives on the matter for months.
“The purpose of the raid, according to what they said, was because the National Archives wanted to establish whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession,” Eric Trump said on Fox News.
The unprecedented action marks a significant escalation in a data probe of the former president, who is also said to be facing other Justice Department investigations into his time before, during and after taking office. The raid also comes at a time when the former president is preparing for an expected run for president in 2024.
Trump attorney Christina Bobb told CNN Monday night that the FBI seized documents from Mar-a-Lago.
“President Trump and his legal team have been cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every step of the way. The FBI conducted an unannounced raid and seized a letter,” Bobb said.
Alleged missing data
In February, archivist David Ferriero told US House of Representatives lawmakers that the National Archives and Records Administration had been in communication with Trump throughout 2021 for the return of 15 boxes of records. He eventually returned them in January 2022.
At the time, the National Archives was still conducting an inventory, but noted that some of the boxes contained items “marked as classified national security information.”
Trump previously confirmed that he had agreed to return some records to the Archives, calling it “an ordinary and routine process”. He also said the Archives “didn’t ‘find’ anything.”
A federal law called the US Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties.
Any search of a private residence would have to be approved by a judge after the investigating law enforcement agency showed probable cause that the search was justified.
“Third World Marxist Dictatorship”
Trump called the raid “prosecutorial misconduct, weaponization of the Justice System and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want [him] to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls,” adding that Democrats “will also do everything they can to stop Republicans and conservatives in the upcoming midterm elections.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before,” Trump said.
The former president added: “Such an attack could only happen in devastated, third-world countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt on a level never seen before.”
Protests from Republicans
Republican lawmakers were quick to condemn the raid, accusing Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to attack the former president.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) called such a move “dangerous.”
“Today’s raid on the former president’s home in the middle of an election season looks like another flagrant and unprecedented abuse of power,” the lawmaker said in a statement to The Epoch Times later. posted on Twitter.
“We will restore order and accountability once we regain control of a Republican majority in November. It can’t happen soon!” the congressman added.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) compared the raid to what happens in socialist dictatorships.
“The use of government power to persecute political opponents is something we’ve seen many times from Third World Marxist dictatorships,” Rubio said. on Twitter late monday. “But never before in America.
“After today[‘]Mar A Lago raid, what do you think the left plans to use those 87,000 new IRS agents for?
“The FBI is doing nothing about groups that vandalize Catholic churches, attack Pro-Life groups, or threaten Supreme Court justices. But they find time to raid Mar A Lago,” Rubio said.
Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) said: “The FBI’s inconsistent and partisan enforcement of the law has gone too far. Democrats have long used our government agencies from the FBI to the IRS to target their political opponents. This unthinkable raid is an attack on our Republic.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have defended the raid. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told NBC on August 9, “No person is above the law.”
The White House said on August 9 that it was not informed ahead of time about the FBI raid.
Reuters contributed to this report.
This article was updated to include more information on the raid and the White House’s response.
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Gary Bai is a reporter for the Epoch Times Canada, covering news in China and the US.
