The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at former United States President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago amid an investigation looking into the discovery of White House records at the Republican's estate.
Two people familiar with the investigation said that the search appeared to be focused on material that Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, after leaving the White House. The boxes allegedly contained many pages of classified documents from his presidency.
FBI Searches Trump's Mar-a-Lago Residence
The former president delayed returning 15 boxes of the material requested by officials with the National Archives for several months, only doing so when there became a threat of action being taken to retrieve them.
Trump has been known throughout his term to rip up official material that was intended to be held for government archives. In a statement, Trump said, "After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate," as per the New York Times.
The Republican businessman also argued that the FBI broke into his safe, asking what the difference was between the raid on his home and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee.
Trump, despite his criticism of the FBI's search, did not share any details about what the agents said they were searching for. However, he depicted himself as a victim of shadowy forces seeking to damage him.
According to CNN, the former president also claimed that his Palm Beach, Florida, residence was under siege. The raid began early Monday morning while Trump was not present and law enforcement personnel appeared to be focused on the area of the club where officers and the Republican's personal quarters were located.
Presidential Records
The Justice Department declined to comment regarding the raid and the White House also refused to comment on the incident. One White House official also said that it was not notified about the raid beforehand.
The raid comes after in February, the National Archives and Records Administration NARA said that they retrieved 15 boxes of White House records and other items stored at the Mar-a-Lago property. The documents contained important records of communication along with Trump's self-described "love letters" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
They also included a letter addressed to Trump from his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. The reported keeping of White House records at the estate violated the Presidential Records Act. This requires that the government keep all forms of documents and communications related to a president or vice president's official duties.
In a statement, an archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, said that the Presidential Records Act mandates that all presidential records must be properly preserved by each administration so that a complete set of records is transferred to the National Archives at the end of the term.
The National Archives Public and Media Communications released a statement saying that it arranged for the transport of 15 boxes containing the presidential records from Trump's Florida property in January after discussing with the former president's representatives, NPR reported.
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