Topline
Several Republican leaders reacted with anger Monday after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, with many of them echoing Trump’s claims about a political “witch hunt” against him, though the search was reportedly part of a probe into the former President’s mishandling of classified White House Documents.
Former US President Donald Trump residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.
Key Facts
In a statement issued on Twitter, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) claimed the Justice Department “has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” and warned Attorney General Merick Garland of an investigation into the department once “Republicans take back the House.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a vocal supporter of the former president, first tweeted “DEFUND THE FBI!” and then made an unsubstantiated claim that law enforcement was being radicalized “to take political enemies out,” though the head of the FBI, Director Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), another close Trump ally, called the search “totally un-American” and “Gestapo cr*p” as she called for the DOJ to be “cleaned out.”
Florida state legislator Anthony Sabatini—a pro-Trump lawmaker who is running for Congress in November—called on his state’s Legislature to “sever all ties” with the Justice Department and to arrest any FBI agent “conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State” — moves that are not within a state legislature’s purview as the federal government has law enforcement jurisdiction over federal crimes.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as a potential Republican primary opponent for Trump for the 2024 Presidential election, also backed the former president and reiterated unproven claims about “weaponization of federal agencies” against political rivals and called the U.S. a “Banana Republic.”
Amidst their complaints, both Trump and the GOP have leveraged the incident as a fundraising opportunity and sent out emails and texts calling on people to defend Trump.
Surprising Fact
The support for Trump was not limited to American conservatives as British right wing politician and former European Parliament member Nigel Farage tweeted he was shocked to hear about the “raid” and followed it up with the baseless claim that the “deep state truly does exist.”
Contra
Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele pushed back against the claims made by the pro-Trump GOP leaders tweeting: “Trump failed to return classified docs requested by the National Archives. A federal judge issued a search warrant for probable cause of a crime. This is not some rando move by the FBI so you shitforbrains Republicans calling for “defunding the FBI” for once try to be less stupid.”
Crucial Quote
Earlier on Monday Trump issued a statement about the search on his Truth Social platform that included several of the unsubstantiated talking points that have since been repeated by his supporters and other Republican leaders. Trump said: “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before…It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.” He added “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.”
Key Background
On Monday evening, FBI agents conducted a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence reportedly as part of a probe into whether the former president broke federal laws with regards to the handling of White House classified records. In January, the National Archives and Records Administration said it received 15 boxes containing government documents from the Trump-era White House including “classified national security information” from Mar-a-Lago. Despite returning the documents, the former president may have violated federal recordkeeping laws by taking it to his private residence. In his statement, Trump claimed that the FBI agents searching his residence even broke into his safe. Neither the FBI or the DOJ have issued an official statement on the search as of Tuesday morning.
Further Reading
FBI Agents Search Mar-A-Lago In ‘Unannounced Raid,’ Trump Says (Forbes)
Top Republicans echo Trump’s evidence-free claims to discredit FBI search (Washington Post)
The search appears to be focused on materials Trump took from the White House. (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/08/09/gop-leaders-react-to-fbi-raid-on-mar-a-lago-with-fury–and-fundraising-pleas/