A search warrant was carried out by the FBI on Monday at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of a probe into the handling of possible brought-in presidential materials, including classified information.
The former President was at Trump Tower in New York when the search order was executed in Florida, and he acknowledged that FBI agents were at Mar-a-Lago, adding that "they even broke into my safe."
In a statement released late on Monday, Trump claimed that his beautiful home in Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, being invaded, and occupied by a big group of FBI agents.
The remarkable decision by the Justice Department to conduct a search of a former president's residence elevates the stakes for the agency and comes as Trump's legal issues persist on numerous fronts. Trump is also anticipated to declare in the upcoming months that he will run for president again in 2024.
There are two known ongoing investigations by the Justice Department concerning the former President: one focuses on the attempt to rig the 2020 election and January 6, 2021, and the other is about the handling of confidential data.
According to a person familiar with the situation, the search got underway early on Monday and it looked like law enforcement officers were concentrating on the portion of the club that houses Trump's offices and personal rooms.
Another individual involved with the investigation said that boxes of materials were taken, and the FBI searched the area to look at where documents were stored. The FBI was required to confirm on Monday that nothing had been overlooked after the National Archives recently recovered White House materials from Mar-a-Lago.
Trump's son, Eric, told Fox host Sean Hannity that the National Archives wanted to authenticate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession from what they alleged was the objective of the raid.
Trump's lawyer Christina Bobb claimed that the FBI had taken documents. The FBI did execute an unauthorized raid and collect documents, but President Trump and his legal team have cooperated with FBI and DOJ authorities at every stage of the process.
Prior to the search warrant's execution on Monday, there was communication between the FBI and U.S. Secret Service, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, which made it simple for the FBI to enter the estate. When Trump is not at Mar-a-Lago, there is hardly any Secret Service presence there.
Officials from the White House said that they were not informed of the search. A senior administration official claimed that President Joe Biden was not made aware of the Mar-a-Lago search until it had been published in the press.
