Article author:
Reuters
Brian Ellsworth and Sarah N . LYNCH
PALM BEACH — Former President Donald Trump said Monday that FBI agents raided Mar-a-Alago's mansion and stole his vault. said to have broken in. His son admitted he was part of an investigation into Trump taking the president's official records out of the White House to his Florida resort.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the investigation, but Trump said in a statement, "FBI agents A large group of Both his FBI headquarters in Washington and the FBI field office in Miami declined to comment.
Eric Trump, one of the former president's adult children, told Fox his news a raid on a box of papers Trump brought from the White House that his father He said he was cooperating with the National Archives on the matter. for several months.
A source familiar with the matter also confirmed to Reuters that the raid appears to be related to Trump's removal of classified records from the White House.
Mr Trump said the property was "currently besieged, raided and occupied." He did not say why the attack took place.
"After working with relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate," Trump said. They broke into my safe. Released a photo.
Trump, who has a Palm Beach club at home since leaving the White House in January 2021, usually plays at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. It's been summer.
A federal law known as the Presidential Records Act requires the retention of notes, letters, notes, e-mails, faxes, and other written communications related to the official duties of the President.
A search of an individual's residence must be authorized by a judge after the investigating law enforcement agency indicates the cause for which the search is believed to be warranted.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by Trump, and his boss, Merrick, appointed by Trump's successor and political rival, President Joe Biden. It would almost certainly be approved by Attorney General Garland as well.
Biden's Democratic supporters criticized Trump for his attempt to overturn Garland's 2020 election loss to Biden.
However, despite Biden's steps to distance himself from the Justice Department, Trump supporters accusing Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to target '' said Philip Halpern, a former federal prosecutor who specializes in public corruption cases, and will involve Wray and a number of other prosecutors.
"This was the biggest deal possible and … everyone in the chain would have had to agree to this," Halpern said.
In February, archivist David Ferriero told US Congressmen that the National Archives and Records Administration had been in contact with Trump about the return of 15 boxes of records throughout 2021. He finally returned them in January 2022.
At the time, the National Archives was still cataloging, but noted that several boxes contained items "marked as classified national security information."
Trump previously confirmed that he agreed to return certain records to the archives, calling it a "normal, routine process." He also claimed that the archives "didn't 'find' anything."
The Justice Department has launched an early-stage investigation into Trump's removal of records from Florida property, a source familiar with the matter said in April.
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of the former president, said she only removed memorabilia that she was legally allowed to take.
"Look, my father-in-law, as everyone knows, anyone who was around him had newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, photographs, all authority to take them out of the White House. I love preserving documents and things like that," Lara Trump told Fox News.
"And again, he has worked every step of the way with those who questioned the issue." OTHER INVESTIGATIONS
In addition to the incident in the presidential record, Trump is under investigation on many other fronts, including a congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021 assault by a Trump supporter. The US Capitol and accusations that Trump tried to influence Georgia's 2020 election results.
Additionally, federal attorneys in Washington, D.C., are investigating plots by Trump's allies to submit fake electoral rolls in a failed attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In his July interview with NBC News, Garland questioned whether the Justice Department would indict Trump for his Jan. 6 events, if evidence supported such actions. Asked
Garland replied: that is our job. I haven't paid any attention to other issues in that regard.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Washington and Brian Ellsworth, Palm Beach; Additional reporting by Eric and Steve Holland, Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Rami Ayyub; Mary Milliken, Leslie Adler, Michael Perry Edit)
