PALM BEACH, Florida –
On Tuesday, former US President Donald Trump tried to capitalize on news of an FBI search of his Florida property, citing the investigation in text messages and emails soliciting political donations from his supporters.
The unprecedented search of a former president’s home marked a significant escalation of the federal investigation into whether Trump illegally expunged White House records when he left office in January 2021. Trump continues to publicly flirt with running again for president in 2024, but has not clearly said if it will.
Trump tried to paint the search for his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach as a politically motivated move by the administration of US President Joe Biden, even as the former president plays a key role in the Republican primary ahead of the midterm elections. of November that will determine the control. of the United States Congress.
“As you see my endorsed candidates get big wins and see my dominance in every poll, they are trying to stop the GOP and me once again,” Trump said in a fundraising email on Tuesday. “Anarchy, political persecution and witch hunts must be exposed and stopped.”
Trump launched his Save America political action committee days after losing the 2020 election to Biden. He has over $100 million in the bank, a formidable war chest.
Trump announced the search of his club in a statement on Monday, saying it had been carried out by a “large group of FBI agents.” The FBI headquarters in Washington and its field office in Miami declined to comment.
Eric Trump, one of Trump’s adult sons, told Fox News on Monday that the search was for boxes of documents his father brought from the White House. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that the raid appeared to be related to Trump’s removal of classified White House records.
The investigation is one of several investigations that have focused on Trump since he left office, weeks after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to overturn his election loss. . Trump continues to falsely claim that the election was stolen through widespread voter fraud.
Trump remains the most influential voice in the GOP, though recent polls have shown a growing number of Republican voters supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a possible 2024 candidate.
A federal law called the US Presidential Records Act requires the retention of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communications related to the official duties of a president.
Any search of a private residence would have to be approved by a judge, after the investigating law enforcement agency showed probable cause that the search was warranted.
It would almost certainly also be approved by Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray and his boss, Biden-appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland. A White House official said Biden received no advance notice of the search and referred inquiries to the Justice Department.
Trump was not present at the time of the search as he was in New York on Monday, Fox News Digital reported, publishing a photo of Trump that a Fox reporter said showed him leaving Trump Tower. Trump, who has lived at his Palm Beach club since he left office, has typically spent summers at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, because Mar-a-Lago normally closes for the summer.
FBI searches Trump’s Florida home as part of presidential records investigationRead full story
Reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Palm Beach, Florida, and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington, additional reporting by Eric Beech and Steve Holland; Edited by Will Dunham and Scott Malone