Former US President Donald Trump said Monday that his home in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided by FBI agents.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently besieged, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” he said in a statement posted on his Truth social network.
The FBI has yet to confirm the search or say what it might be for, and Trump is at the center of a series of legal investigations.
A person familiar with the investigation told the newspaper that agents were conducting a court-authorized search as they investigated possible mishandling of classified documents that were sent to Mar-a-Lago.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate,” said the Republican politician,
The former president called this investigation “an attack by radical left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for president in 2024.”
The US Justice Department is investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, an incident that is also being investigated by a House committee.
But Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to point the finger at anyone.
“We have to hold accountable all the people who are criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election,” he said recently, stressing that “no person is above the law.”
The fact that Trump took at least 15 boxes of government documents to Florida after his defeat in the 2020 election is the subject of a separate investigation.
Efforts to overturn the 2020 election results are also under investigation in the state of Georgia, while his business practices are under investigation in New York.
The real estate tycoon has not yet officially declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential elections, although in recent years he has shown strong indications that he is in his plans.
With Democratic President Joe Biden’s approval rating dipping below 40% and Democrats expected to lose control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, Trump seems optimistic he could ride the wave. Republican to return to the White House in 2024.
With information from AFP and Reuters.