The case caused a stir in the United States. Donald Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida, was searched by the FBI on Monday, announced the former president, denouncing “political persecution” worthy of “a third world country”. According to US media, the warrant concerns potential classified documents that Donald Trump would have taken with him when he left the White House. The search would therefore not be linked to the Justice Department’s investigation into the Capitol assault or the 2020 presidential election.
“Our nation is living through dark days. My magnificent residence is besieged and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. They even broke into my trunk, ”complained the former American president on the Truth Social network in the middle of the afternoon. He says he was not warned. “We have never seen such a scene in presidential history,” historian Michael Beschloss reacted on Twitter.
A search linked to the documents of the National Archives
The former American president did not give the reason for this coup. In February, the National Archives said it had to recover fifteen boxes of documents from Florida that Donald Trump had taken with him when he left Washington in January 2021. In these boxes, letters from Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a map of the United States which had been the subject of heated exchanges with the American weather service, but also, according to the Washington Postseveral documents marked “secret-defense”.
According to Miami Herald, a Florida judge validated the search. The FBI was able to establish that there was “probable cause” justifying this action, because there were indeed classified documents in those that Donald Trump had returned in February.
“Intolerable instrumentalization for political purposes”
The announcement of the search did not fail to provoke indignation in the Republican ranks. The leader of the Conservatives in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, thus denounced an “intolerable instrumentalization for political purposes” of the Department of Justice, promising an investigation into its functioning when the Republicans return to power.
The 45th American president is targeted on several fronts. The Department of Justice is investigating the capitol assault and Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the 2020 presidential results. Recently, several former executives of his White House, including Mike Pence’s ex-chief of staff, have been summoned by federal prosecutors to testify before a grand jury.