The raid is apparently related to confidential documents that Trump took home after his tenure as president.
FBI agents have searched former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Trump himself announced this in the evening. It was an “unannounced raid on my house” that was neither necessary nor appropriate.
He had previously cooperated with the relevant government authorities. The agents also broke open a safe, Trump complained. Media reported that the FBI had closed the investigation on Monday evening. Trump is said not to have been there during the action.
circumstances still unclear
The circumstances surrounding the search of Trump’s property in Palm Beach, Florida were initially unclear. A spokeswoman for his agency declined to comment on whether Attorney General Merrick Garland personally approved the move. A search of an ex-president’s property – a highly unusual operation – requires approval from the highest level of the Justice Department.
Observers suspected a connection to boxes of confidential documents that Trump is said to have taken to Mar-a-Lago after the end of his term in office. The Justice Department has launched an investigation into the matter.
Up to five years imprisonment
The National Archives, which is responsible for storing presidential correspondence, had previously said that confidential material was stored in 15 boxes in Trump’s private club. According to the media, these included letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a letter from Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. Normally in the USA the correspondence of the President is archived and kept for posterity.
US federal law prohibits the taking and keeping of classified documents in unauthorized locations. Violations can result in imprisonment of up to five years.
The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman also reported that Trump flushed documents down the toilet during his presidency. Trump rejected that. On Monday, photos finally appeared to prove this. Haberman is soon to publish a book in which White House staffers report that they repeatedly encountered balls of paper clogging the toilet.
“Attack of Radical Left Democrats”
In his post, Trump described the search as a sign of “dark times for our nation.” His “beautiful home” Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is being besieged, searched and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States.”
In another post he followed up in the evening. The search uses the judicial system as a weapon. It is an attack by the “radical left Democrats who are desperately opposed to my running for president in 2024.”
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, spoke of a “banana republic” during the search. The Republican is considered a possible candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump himself has not yet announced his renewed candidacy for the White House, but he is currently trying to prepare the ground for it. Recently, however, the investigation into the background to the storming of the Capitol by its supporters on January 6, 2021 has picked up speed. A number of witnesses heavily incriminated Trump at public hearings before the responsible committee in the House of Representatives.
However, Trump could also use a renewed presidential candidacy to dismiss investigations against him as politically motivated.
