Iclal Turan
09 August 2022•Update: 10 August 2022
ISTANBUL
Former US President Donald Trump said his residence at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida was raided by the FBI on Monday, leading him to lash out at what he called an unprecedented "assault," accusing his political opponents of weaponizing the justice system.
But why did the FBI search Trump's Florida home, even going so far as to reportedly open up one of his safes? What are the allegations facing the former US president?
The FBI and Department of Justice have so far declined comment on the raid, but several cases against Trump have already been widely reported, including his alleged mishandling and unauthorized taking of classified and official documents.
Multiple US news outlets reported that the search appeared to be focused on material such as boxes with classified documents that Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House last January to make way for current President Joe Biden, or even before his term ended.
CNN cited three people familiar with the situation saying that the FBI’s search warrant was part of an investigation into the “handling of presidential documents, including classified documents.”
The New York Times also cited “multiple people familiar with the investigation” saying that the search focused on material Trump brought to the private Mar-a-Lago club when he left the White House.
Eric Trump, one of the ex-president’s adult sons, told Fox News that the FBI search was related to documents taken from the White House.
"The purpose of the raid was, from what they said, was because the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession," Eric Trump said.
The former US president is currently facing several investigations and lawsuits, including over missing White House records and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
US National Archives
The US National Archives and Records Administration this January retrieved 15 boxes of White House documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence which should have been turned over to the agency when he left the White House.
It later notified the US Congress that the boxes contained "items marked as classified national security information."
"Former President Trump's representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives,” the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said in a statement in February.
In February former Trump aides told several American media outlets, such as The Washington Post, that the boxes contained “mementos, gifts, letters from world leaders and other correspondence,” denying any “nefarious intent.”
According to the Presidential Record Acts, which Congress passed in 1978 following President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal, all presidential records are public property and are to be handed over to the National Archives upon completion of the president's term.
The search does not mean that Trump is being accused of committing a crime.
To execute Monday's search, the FBI had to convince a judge that they had probable cause Trump had illicitly taken official documents and moreover that it was unlikely the former president would have turned over the documents himself, willingly. The judge would then issue a warrant.
It is also almost certain that top leaders at the Justice Department, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, would have to approve the search of a former president’s residence, unprecedented in US history.
Additionally, even if the search was authorized based on the alleged mishandling of official documents, if evidence emerged during the search related to the other cases related to Trump – such as the Jan. 6 attacks or the “fake electors” scheme to illicitly give electoral votes to Trump from states he did not win – that evidence could be collected and used by prosecutors pursuing the other cases.
