House search in Mar-a-Lago: US Republicans after the FBI raid on Trump in a rage: "Raid" like in a "banana republic"

US Republicans have sharply attacked the FBI and the US Department of Justice over the search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home.

House search in Mar-a-Lago: US Republicans after the FBI raid on Trump in a rage: "Raid" like in a "banana republic"

US Republicans have sharply attacked the FBI and the US Department of Justice over the search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home. Leading representatives of the party accused the party of a politically motivated action against the ex-president, whose candidacy in the 2024 presidential election is likely. Some even spoke of a "raid". The White House emphasized that it had no prior knowledge of the search.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Republican and possibly Trump's promising competitor for the conservative presidential candidacy, spoke of "a further escalation in the arming of federal agencies against the political opponents of the regime". In this context, he accused the authorities of treating Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, “with kid gloves”. However, the public prosecutor's investigations against Hunter Biden, which have been ongoing for years, have recently picked up speed again. Among other things, it is about allegations such as money laundering, violations of tax laws and firearms regulations.

Other US Republicans echoed Donald Trump's choice of words, calling the FBI's search a "raid" of the property. They also denounced the fact that a former president is being investigated at all: "In third world countries and banana republics, they persecute the former presidents/leaders and their staff," tweeted Republican Congressman Thomas Massie from Kentucky, for example. "We don't see much right now better off. We are in a race to the bottom." Similarly, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida: "The use of government power to pursue political opponents is something we have seen many times in Third World Marxist dictatorships, but never in America ." House searches of former US presidents are highly unusual in the United States.

The leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy from California, announced investigations against the acting US Attorney General and Attorney General Merrick Garland. These would be included if the Republicans regained a majority in the Congress Chamber in the upcoming midterm elections in the fall. "I've seen enough," McCarthy wrote on Twitter, the Justice Department has reached an intolerable state of armed politicization."

The Republican voices did not justify their harsh allegations against the authorities on the merits. Instead, they mostly drew comparisons with what they considered to be too lax investigations into, for example, Hunter Biden or former presidential candidate and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the so-called email affair, in which there was never a house search. So far, neither the FBI nor the Attorney General's Office have commented on the reason for the raid on Trump. According to a report in the "New York Times", it is not about the investigations into the storming of the Capitol, but it could be about the fact that Donald Trump is said to have taken documents, some of which were secret, with him to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his term in office . Presidential documents are archived seamlessly in the USA, and ex-presidents are forbidden by law to take documents with them.

"Since they have nothing against Donald Trump, they try every trick," said the former head of a committee of inquiry into Hillary Clinton, Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, on Fox News. A new low has been reached, the actions of the FBI are unprecedented. Chaffetz, who is also listed as a Fox News contributor and runs a podcast on Fox News Radio, also called for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray. He was appointed to the post by Donald Trump in 2017. Ultra-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who openly endorses conspiracy theories, even called for federal police funding to be stopped. She also commented on the raid with a post showing an inverted US flag – an international sign of a national emergency.

Sources: DPA, AFP, The Hill, Fox News, "New York Times"