8 hours ago
image source,EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
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Police car outside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump said the FBI raided his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, and agents opened a safe.
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In a statement, Trump said Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was “occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
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The search on Monday was reportedly related to an investigation into Trump’s handling of official documents.
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“These are dark times for our country,” Trump said in a statement. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
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Neither the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) nor the U.S. Department of Justice have commented on the reported search.
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‘Unprecedented’ search warrant
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the Secret Service was at about 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT), shortly before the search warrant was issued. Agents protecting Trump assisted FBI investigators after being notified.
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The source also said several boxes were taken, the door was not kicked down, and the raid ended in the late afternoon.
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Federal search warrants must be signed by a judge. While such a search warrant does not mean the person may be subject to criminal charges, law enforcement agencies must first demonstrate that it is possible to find evidence of the violation.
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Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told the BBC that such a search warrant was “unprecedented” in American history and a “major event”.
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The Presidential Archives Act (PRA) of the United States requires the President of the United States to transfer all correspondence, working papers, and e-mails to the National Archives (NA).
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There are other federal laws in the United States regarding the handling of classified documents.
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In February, the National Archives said it retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago that were supposed to be turned over when Trump left the White House.
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The agency later told Congress that the boxes included “documents marked as classified national security information.”
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Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb, told NBC News that some documents were taken during the search.
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image source,Getty Images
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Trump says reports of his mishandling of official documents are ‘fake news’
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“Weaponization of Justice”
The escalating law enforcement investigation into Trump comes as the GOP prepares for a 2024 presidential race.
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News of the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago has alarmed some Trump supporters. A group of Sichuan fans gathered outside Mar-a-Lago and waved flags to express their anger.
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House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said: “I’ve seen enough. The Justice Department has gotten into an intolerable state of weaponization of politics.”
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Meanwhile, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, tweeted: “The use of government power to persecute political opponents is something we’ve seen many times in Third World Marxist dictatorships.”
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Trump said he had cooperated with all relevant government agencies, so “the raid on my home was unnecessary and inappropriate.”
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He said it amounted to “prosecuting misconduct” and “weaponizing the justice system” in an effort to prevent him from running for the White House again.
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“This kind of attack can only happen in a broken third world country,” he said. “Sadly, the United States is now one of those countries with unprecedented levels of corruption.”
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“They even hit my safe!”
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According to reports, Trump himself was inside Trump Tower in New York City when the search took place.
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A senior White House official told CBS that the Biden administration was not notified of the FBI search in Florida on Monday.
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The White House said it was trying to avoid interactions with senior Justice Department officials to avoid giving the appearance of political pressure or wrongdoing.
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Analysis: a significant move
BBC correspondent Peter Bowes, Los Angeles
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One view is that the search was timed to avoid a long-held belief that the judiciary does not engage in actions deemed politically sensitive in the run-up to elections.
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With just three months to go to decide on the next Congress, the US midterm elections, there are few such sensitive times in American politics.
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Trump, of course, believes the motive behind the “raid” is entirely political — to undermine his chances of running for the White House in 2024.
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There’s a lot more we don’t know right now, but Trump supporters are outraged by what happened.
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The former president said he had been cooperating with relevant government agencies, why did he get a search warrant into Mar-a-Lago? This is an open question. To be sure, this is a major action by the Department of Justice.
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