• FBI searches Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and seizes documents

    International
    FBI searches Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and seizes documents

    On Monday night, President Trump made the following inflammatory claims: "A large group of FBI agents is currently occupying, raiding, and seizing my opulent residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-A-Lago. Even worse, they broke into my safe!"

    Digital Desk: Federal
    investigators have reportedly taken records from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago
    property in Palm Beach, Florida, according to two people with knowledge of the
    incident. This is the most recent indication that the US Justice Department's criminal
    investigation into his business operations is intensifying.



    The sources claim that the
    FBI executed a search warrant at Trump's residence on Monday at around 9 a.m.
    as part of a continuing investigation into the former president's allegedly
    illegal removal and destruction of White House papers after he left office last
    year.



    The Justice Department's
    decision to search Mar-a-Lago in connection with the removal of 15 boxes of
    presidential papers from the White House, including secret documents, as well
    as the destruction of other materials, has significantly increased the
    investigation's scope.



    On Monday night, President
    Trump made the following inflammatory claims: "A large group of FBI agents
    is currently occupying, raiding, and seizing my opulent residence in Palm
    Beach, Florida, Mar-A-Lago. Even worse, they broke into my safe!"



    Trump's gross violations of
    the 1978 Presidential Papers Act, which mandates the preservation of White
    House papers, have previously been the focus of an investigation. The investigation
    seems to suggest that Trump may now be in legal danger as a result of his
    record-keeping practices, though.



    The legislation that
    prohibits the willful destruction or removal of presidential records has harsh
    penalties, including fines, jail time, and- most significantly- the prohibition
    from ever again holding any office. However, it is rarely enforced.



    An official from the Justice
    Department declined to comment.



    Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is
    located in Florida's Palm Beach. Picture: Marco Bello for Reuters



    One of the people asserted
    that the former president wasn't at Mar-a-Lago at the time of the raid but
    rather was at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. When Trump claimed that
    the raid was still ongoing, the FBI had already departed the area.



     



    Throughout his presidency,
    Mar-a-Lago was referred to as Trump's "winter White House." Trump and
    his wife Melania returned to their Florida estate after leaving Washington, and
    the president has since used it as the centre of his political efforts.



    After a series of
    heartbreaking public hearings that exposed Trump and his allies' roles in the
    events leading up to the attack on the Capitol last year, the raid takes place
    as Trump is laying the framework for a future presidential bid in 2024.



    Trump attempted to blame
    "Radical Left Democrats," who he said, "desperately don't want me
    to run for president in 2024... who would do everything to hurt Republicans and
    Conservatives in the next midterm elections," for the FBI raid by
    comparing it to "Watergate" in a fiery statement.



    The FBI is led by
    Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump before leaving office.



    A source with knowledge of
    the probe claims that the Justice Department has been covertly considering
    whether to launch a criminal investigation into the topic of Trump's removal of
    papers since at least April.



    Trump equated the FBI raid
    to "Watergate" in a heated statement, and he attempted to place the
    blame on "Radical Left Democrats," who he said, "desperately
    don't want me to run for president in 2024... who would do anything to hinder
    Republicans and Conservatives in the next midterm elections."



    Christopher Wray, who was
    chosen by Trump before he left office, is the director of the FBI.



    A source with knowledge of
    the probe claims that the Justice Department has been covertly considering
    whether to launch a criminal investigation into the topic of Trump's removal of
    papers since at least April.



    The crates also contain
    letters from Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor in
    office, and a model of Air Force One with the red, white, and blue livery that
    Trump chose but that the Biden administration abandoned.



    In a letter to Congress at
    the time, then-Chief Archivist David Ferriero stated that "Nara staff has
    been in communication with the Department of Justice" because "Nara
    uncovered classified information in the boxes."



    The controversy also
    prompted the House oversight committee, chaired by Carolyn Maloney, to open a
    second investigation and declare that "removing or hiding official records
    is a criminal offense." The Democrat from New York claimed that Trump has
    to be held responsible.



    Republican concerns that the
    former president is unfairly being singled out for criticism are sure to be
    strengthened by the material, which is expected to infuriate Trump supporters.
    According to the Palm Beach Post, a small gathering of Trump supporters
    gathered in front of Mar-a-Lago on Monday night as the news broke.