FBI ‘Raids’ Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago Estate
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence.
That's according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Trump says agents broke into his safe in a search he decried as evidence of “dark times for our nation.”
The FBI and Justice Department have not confirmed the search.
It marks a dramatic escalation in law enforcement scrutiny of Trump and comes amid a separate but intensifying probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"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 wrote on his social media app, Truth Social. "Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before."
Incidentally, the 'raid' has occurred on the anniversary of Richard Nixon resigning from his presidency, amid the Watergate scandal and the ensuing FBI investigation.
"After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate," he wrote. "It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections."
Trump then stated that, because of this act by the FBI, America is a third-world country.
"Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries [mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and capitalization are those of Mr. Trump]." Trump continued. "Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt as a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is this difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States."
The political affiliations of the FBI agents who conducted the search have not been made public.
"The Justice Department has two known active investigations connected to the former President, one on the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and January 6, 2021, and the other involving the handling of classified documents," CNN reported.