This unprecedented search marked a significant escalation in the federal investigation into whether Trump unlawfully removed documents from the White House when he left office in January 2021. Trump continues to publicly flirt with a new presidential bid in 2024, but hasn’t said clearly if it will.
Mr Trump has tried to paint the search of his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach club as a politically motivated move by President Joe Biden’s administration, even as the former president plays a key role in the Republican primaries before the November midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress.
“They are trying to stop the Republican Party and me once again,” Mr. Trump said in a fundraising email on Tuesday. “Anarchy, political persecution and witch hunts must be exposed and stopped.”
Trump launched his political action committee Save America days after losing the 2020 election to Biden. He has over $100 million in the bank, a formidable war chest.
His Republican allies in Congress have vowed to launch an investigation into the research itself if they regain control of the House or Senate in November. House Republicans, including Rep. Jim Banks, were scheduled to meet Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment or even confirm the research, which Trump revealed in a statement Monday.
A CAREFUL EXAMINATION
The FBI could not have carried out the search without the approval of a judge who would have confirmed the existence of probable cause. It is almost certain that the request would also have been approved by FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump, and by his boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was appointed by Biden.
A White House official said Biden was not notified of the search.
“In my view, this search warrant has probably received more scrutiny than any search warrant in the history of the Department of Justice,” said David Laufman, a former official with the Department of Justice. Justice, which oversaw prosecutions for national security offences.
Earlier this year, the FBI visited Trump’s property to investigate boxes in a locked storage room, according to a person familiar with the visit. FBI agents and a Trump attorney, Evan Corcoran, spent a day reviewing the documents, the source said.
Corcoran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The search is just one step in the investigation and does not mean Trump will automatically face criminal charges, or be found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Concealment or destruction of government documents is a criminal offence. Anyone found guilty of violating a US law called the Government Records Act would be barred from holding federal office and could face a prison sentence of up to three years.
Legal experts have said it is unclear whether the disqualification provision is constitutional. The United States Constitution sets out the qualifications to be a president, senator, or representative of the United States. Previous Supreme Court decisions have held that Congress cannot limit the list of eligible office holders.
This means that if Trump were convicted, he would likely challenge any attempt to disqualify him from running for office again, possibly in a U.S. Supreme Court whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices he appointed.
“It is uncertain whether the prohibition in the Government Records Act is constitutional,” said Mitchell Epner, a Rottenberg Lipman Rich attorney and former federal prosecutor. “She’s absolutely there and it would, in all likelihood, be something that would end up in litigation.”
The documents probe is one of many that have focused on Trump since he left office, weeks after his supporters stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to reverse his electoral loss. Trump continues to falsely claim that the election was stolen by widespread voter fraud.
Trump remains the most influential voice in the Republican Party, although recent polls show Florida Governor Ron DeSantis growing in stature as a potential 2024 nominee.
But Trump has overcome numerous political scandals, and observers said the FBI raid could bolster his standing with Republican readers.
“The Biden administration is just adding rocket fuel to Trump’s campaign prospects and energizing his supporters who want him to run again,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican Washington strategist. “There should be more transparency around the decision to have this FBI raid because it seems overly political and allows Trump to say he is being unfairly attacked.”