Donald Trump, an ex-president, claimed that Mar-A-Lago was raided and searched by the FBI during a search warrant.
It is unclear exactly why the FBI obtained the search warrant, but the raid comes amid reports that the Justice Department is investigating Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6th siege on the Capitol. There are also reports that Trump may have taken documents from the White House, rather than turning them over to National Archives.
On cable news, the news quickly took over coverage. According to Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN, in order for a judge sign off on a warrant for search, there must be probable cause that the crime was committed.
Trump stated in a statement: “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. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
He stated that “after working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.”
Trump was critical of the FBI’s actions while asserting that “they even broke into my safe.”
“What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”
Axios was earlier on Monday Published photosToilets with messages left in the bowl. The pictures were obtained by The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, whose upcoming book will include a detail that White House staff sometimes found the wads of paper in the toilet, believed to be thrown in there by Trump.
There are more to come.