After FBI agents raided, or searched, his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida for classified documents Monday night, Trump called it a “witch hunt.” And those words are common ones in his vocabulary as is his promise to cite the Fifth Amendment and not answer questions about his business practices.
The purposes of the siege have not been explained by the FBI or the Department of Justice. Neither Trump nor any member of his family was at the residence when the search occurred.
“These are dark times for our nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago…is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump voiced in a statement. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before.”
Approval for the search was clearly authorized by the DOJ and Attorney General Merrick Garland, but nothing is forthcoming and even President Biden said he was not aware of the action before it happened.
What precipitated the search may be the results of Trump removing boxes with him when he left the White House. Those documents, according to experts, are required to be turned over to the federal government. All of this comes on the heels of the Jan. 6 hearings and possibly related to some of the issues raised there during testimony, particularly from a number of close associates and members of Trump‘s staff.
A number of allegations have surfaced suggesting the intersection of the Jan. 6 probe and the quest to get Trump’s tax records, and the seizure may benefit both.
Sen. Kevin McCarthy, Republican House minority leader, immediately backed Trump’s claims that the search was the state’s “weaponized politicization,” vowing to investigate the DOJ and the AG Merrick Garland.
“Attorney General Garland,” McCarthy said, “preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”