According to former US President Donald Trump, the FBI federal police searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in the US state of Florida. "My beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, search and occupation by a large group of FBI agents," Trump wrote on Truth Social, a network he co-founded.
According to media reports, the process is related to Trump's handling of files and documents from his time in the White House. Searching the property of a former president is highly unusual.
"This unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate," Trump continued. "Even" his safe was opened. Trump called the process "political persecution" and an attack by "radical left-wing Democrats". He compared the search to the Watergate scandal that forced then US President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. Media reported that the FBI had ended the search. Trump is said not to have been at home during the campaign.
Trump rails against Biden: "He knew about it"
Trump has accused his successor Joe Biden of having known in advance about the search of his property. "Biden knew all about it, just like he knew about Hunter's 'deals'," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump was again alluding to allegations against Joe Biden's son Hunter, with which he had repeatedly stirred up the mood in the 2020 presidential election campaign. Trump had tried to link Biden to his son Hunter's alleged dubious dealings in Ukraine.
The White House had previously made it clear that it had not been informed in advance about the search of Trump's property. "The President was not briefed and knew nothing about it. (...) No one in the White House was forewarned," said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. She declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. Trump, on the other hand, ranted: "A terrible thing that happened yesterday in Mar-a-Lago. We are no better than a third world country, a banana republic." He wrote of a "coordinated attack" against him.
Trump is said to have withheld documents
Trump had recently been heavily incriminated by witnesses at the public hearings of the investigative committee on the Capitol attack. Accordingly, Trump knew that the demonstrators were armed on January 6, 2021 and deliberately sent them to the Capitol. Recently, there was growing evidence that the Justice Department was investigating Trump's own behavior around the 2020 presidential election and the storming of the Capitol. The question is whether Attorney General Merrick Garland could take criminal action against Trump.
However, the search of Trump's home now appears to be connected to something else. Trump was accused of withholding files and documents from his time in the White House. The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman even reported that Trump flushed documents down the toilet during his presidency. Trump rejected that. On Monday, photos finally appeared that are supposed to prove this.
There was anger mainly because Trump is said to have taken documents to Mar-a-Lago that allegedly contained classified information on national security. In addition, in the United States all of the President's correspondence is archived and kept for posterity. This is required by law. Trump, however, is said to have brought 15 boxes full of government documents, memorabilia, gifts and letters from the White House to his home in Florida after his term in office. According to the media, these included letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a letter from Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.
High-level approval required
Trump finally handed over several documents to the National Administration for Archives and Records and confirmed this himself at the time. However, the judiciary is said to have launched an investigation. A search of an ex-president's property requires authorization from the highest level of the Justice Department. Justice Department officials declined to comment on any aspect of the search warrant, the New York Times wrote.
Trump attended a scheduled event with ultra-conservative former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Monday evening (local time) by phone. She wants to be elected to the US House of Representatives in the congressional elections in the fall. According to the newspaper, "Another day in paradise" and "That was a strange day" was all Trump said about the events. Leading Republican Kevin McCarthy said he would launch an investigation into the Justice Department if Republicans win a majority in the House of Representatives in the fall congressional elections.
Is Trump's candidacy imminent?
Trump had recently flirted with running again in the 2024 presidential election. However, he has not yet announced his candidacy. Observers speculate that the 76-year-old could soon announce a candidacy because of the pressure from the Capitol Committee investigations.
The candidacy would be a way to dismiss investigations against him as politically motivated. In his statement, he now complained that the Democrats wanted to prevent him from running again in 2024.
With a view to Trump's possible candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, the "New York Times" raises the question of whether he would be banned from public office - and thus also from the presidency - if he were to be banned for taking files and documents from the White House have violated applicable US law. US federal law provides that taking, damaging, forging, or destroying government documents, among other things, is a crime. If convicted, there is a risk of a fine or imprisonment of up to three years - and the person concerned should be disqualified from any public office in the United States.
However, the "New York Times" also points out that the paragraph had already been scrutinized briefly in connection with Hillary Clinton in 2015, who was then regarded as the likely Democratic presidential candidate. At that time it became known that as Foreign Minister (2009-2013) she had used a private e-mail server to send official e-mails. She was reprimanded for this in an investigative report by the State Department, but the FBI later dropped investigations against her and did not recommend charges. Clinton ran against Trump in November 2016 but lost.
