FBI Investigates Trump's Mar-a-Lago Property

Around 10AM yesterday, FBI agents entered Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida with a warrant to search the estate. Its owner, former President Donald Trump, was not on the property at that time, but released a statement later in the evening decrying the agency’s actions as a politically-motivated “WITCH HUNT.” The Miami Herald recounts how Trump called for “every single red-blooded American Patriot to step up during this time” and donate to his fund.

Agents specifically broke into Trump’s safe in an investigation related to classified documents Trump allegedly took to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021, according to ABC News. Though Trump returned 15 boxes of these documents to the National Archives earlier this year, the possibility that he retained further classified documents or mishandled them in other ways would allow for a federal case.

According to NBC News, the FBI agents spent most of Monday at the estate and confiscated materials. As the raid was unannounced, the Secret Service agents present at the estate were notified only hours before the FBI executed the court-ordered warrant, and the White House reportedly did not have prior knowledge.

According to CNN, the investigation may have been ordered yesterday because of a department rule “not to execute politically sensitive moves within 90 days of an election,” a limit which will come into play tomorrow on the 9th. However, the federal investigation has been ongoing, as a subpoena was issued in May for the access of classified documents Trump had moved to Mar-a-Lago. Trump may also be held accountable for the destruction and deletion of classified documents continually throughout his tenure, which itself is a federal crime, states CNN.