AG Garland to Make Statement on Mar-a-Lago Raid

Former President Trump’s
office received a grand jury subpoena this spring for classified documents he allegedly took from the White House when he left office in 2021, a source close to Trump told Fox News, saying the former president cooperated with the subpoena by turning over documents to the FBI.

According to the source, a subpoena was issued to a “custodian of the president,” and was related to the materials that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was trying to collect after claiming Trump improperly took those classified records with him from Washington D.C. to Mar-a-Lago.

The source close to Trump told Fox News that Trump has been cooperating in the investigation into the NARA records for a year. 

For more on this story: Trump received subpoena for classified records this spring

Former Trump White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday on CNN that the FBI and the DOJ have “lost the benefit of the doubt” with Republicans in the U.S. 

“There is a lack of trust on the right, right now, with the FBI. And I think the way they went about this, the fact that they went about this, and especially if the FBI did this only looking for documents, it is really going to create even deeper divisions in the country,” Mulvaney said. 

Mulvaney added that Republicans might have a problem with the FBI because they “misled the FISA court about the 2016 election in order to spy on Donald Trump’s campaign.” He also said that they misled the public with regard to Hunter Biden’s laptop. He said that the raid either had to do with a legitimate investigation or, he continued, it was a “political hit job.”

For more on this story: After Trump Raid, Mick Mulvaney tells CNN: FBI and DOJ have ‘lost the benefit of the doubt’ with Republicans

A source close to former President Trump told Fox News on Thursday that new reports suggesting an informant tipped off the FBI about alleged sensitive documents being held at Mar-a-Lago are “irrelevant,” given Trump and his representatives have been “cooperating” with the FBI and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for a year.

That cooperation, the source says, includes June 3, when the FBI came to Mar-a-Lago, asked to see a storage room where records were located, and asked staff to put a lock on the storage room, which they did.

The source says Trump’s staff have been interviewed by the FBI with regard to the NARA investigation over the last several months. The FBI interviewed staff who moved boxes from the White House, administrative staff, and others who helped to organize Trump’s departure from the Oval Office, and questioned those individuals on what they were involved in moving.

“The reality is, you talk to anyone part of an administration and leaving the White House and they will tell you it is always a chaotic thing,” the source said, adding that it is “not surprising” records “came that should have stayed,” and it is “not unusual for NARA and former administration officials to be in communications about documents and whether or not they should have left the White House or stayed behind.”

“Even if there was an informant, someone who told the FBI that all of these things are there, inside Mar-a-Lago, the FBI could have just asked for it, as the president and his team have been cooperating for a year,” the source added.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, emphasized the importance of ‘trust’ in the FBI, arguing the raid has ‘destroyed’ confidence in the agency on ‘Fox & Friends.’

Lindsey Halligan, attorney for former President Donald Trump, explained to Fox News’ Sean Hannity what she thinks transpired Monday after the FBI raided the 45th president’s Mar-a-Lago residence. 

For more on this story: Trump attorney speaks out on Mar-a-Lago raid: ‘Government seems to be out of control’

Former President Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in a deposition as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into his family’s business practices—just days after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in connection with an investigation into classified records he allegedly took with him when he left the White House—but investigations are nothing new for Donald Trump. 

Trump’s presidency was clouded by investigations—several into whether he colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, some focused on his finances and others that led to impeachment, making him the first president in United States history to have been impeached twice.

Trump’s post-presidential life is reminiscent of his days in the Oval Office, marred by probes, which the former president and his allies say are all just part of an effort by his political opponents to prevent him from running for re-election in 2024.

For more on this story: Trump targeted: A look at the investigations involving the former president

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday pushed back on social media threats made against him and other law enforcement officers, following his agency’s unprecedented search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

On Monday, the FBI executed a “raid” on Trump’s Florida home and by that night, droves of social media posts criticized the incident and accused the bureau of being politicized in nature. Some messages also called for violence towards Wray, a massive uprising, and even a civil war.

“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said Wednesday, condemning the posts. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”

He called the threats “deplorable and dangerous.”

For more on this story: FBI Director Wray pushes back on threats following unprecedented raid on Trump: ‘Deplorable and dangerous’

Former FBI special agent Maureen O’Connell said she would like to see the warrant and what specifically agents were looking for when they went through the residence of former President Donald Trump. 

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The Albany Times Union and Judicial Watch have separately asked a federal magistrate judge to publicly release the search warrant for what is presumably related to the FBI raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Monday.The judge gave the DOJ until August 15 to respond to the request. 

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“While we will not comment on specific details, we can confirm that today, our office conducted a deposition of former president Donald Trump,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement to Fox News.

“Attorney General Letitia James took part in the deposition during which Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Attorney General James will pursue the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Our investigation continues.”

Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are demanding answers about the role the National Archives played in the FBI’s raid Monday of former President Donald Trump’s private home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.

The lawmakers led by Ranking Member Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to the acting archivist of the United States Debra Wall Wednesday to express their concerns and to request the preservation of documents and communications related to the warrant executed this week at Mar-a-Lago.

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Former President Trump on Wednesday said the FBI and Justice Department requested in June that his legal representatives requested that an extra lock be put on the door leading to the place where boxes were stored as his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“We agreed,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “They were shown the secured area, and the boxes themselves. Then on Monday, without notification or warning, an army of agents broke into Mar-a-Lago, went to the same storage area, and ripped open the lock that they had asked to be installed. A surprise attack, POLITICS, and all the while our Country is going to HELL!”

In a follow-up post, Trump said he had a “very professional meeting” with the Attorney General’s Office.

“Have a fantastic company with great assets, very little doubt, and lots of CASH. Only in America!” Trump wrote. 

A source tells Fox News that former President Trump and his legal team will likely seek a court order to force the FBI and the Justice Department to turn over a physical copy of the search warrant, the affidavit, and a complete inventory of what was taken in the Mar-a-Lago raid.

The president of the central American country of El Salvador criticized the FBI following the raid at former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, noting apparent hypocrisy. 

“What would the US Government say, if OUR police raided the house of one of the main possible contenders of OUR 2024 presidential election?” Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador since 2019, tweeted on Wednesday, sharing a TMZ article about the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. 

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On the latest episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the host expressed unbridled glee over the news that former President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was raided by the FBI.

During the Tuesday evening segment, Colbert claimed the occasion was as big as “Christmas,” giggled excitedly about it, and declared that the headline “FBI Agents raided…Mar-a-Lago” is the “most beautiful sentence America has ever produced.”

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Several MSNBC figures have publicly objected to the use of the term “raid” to describe the FBI’s execution of a search warrant Monday at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Trump announced the news in a dramatic statement on Monday, declaring his home was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell were among those who described the situation as a raid as the news broke Monday night, and other on-air hosts have used the word since then, but several of their network colleagues have balked at the term. 

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Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said on Wednesday that he doesn’t believe the raid conducted on former President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate was only about recovering presidential records.

“I cannot imagine that they are literally looking for something on the Presidential Records Act. There’s no way in the world that it’s only about that,” Scott told “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”

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Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley explained on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Wednesday why Attorney General Merrick Garland should have appointed special counsels to investigate Hunter Biden and probe the events of January 6th.  

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Congressional Republicans are vowing to ramp up oversight of the Biden White House and the Department of Justice after the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was the first to make the pledge late Monday after news broke that Mar-a-Lago had been raided by federal agents over Trump’s purported failure to turn over classified documents to the National Archives. 

“The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” McCarthy said. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of their department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned.” 

For more on this story: Republicans vow ramped up oversight of Biden administration after FBI raid

Calls are growing for the Department of Justice to release information on its Monday raid at former President Trump’s Florida home, as the agency remains silent on the unprecedented move two days later. 

“The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday. “Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.”

McConnell was joined in demanding an explanation from the DOJ by several other top Senate Republicans, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former Vice President Mike Pence, House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and many more. 

For more on this story: Garland’s DOJ faces growing pressure to release information on unprecedented search

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., joined ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss scrutiny surrounding the FBI’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and Attorney General Garland’s silence on the incident.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., demanded an investigation Wednesday into the Department of Justice and the FBI over the raid on President Trump’s Florida home. 

On “Fox & Friends,” Paul argued Attorney General Merrick Garland could face impeachment if an investigation finds him guilty of misusing his office. 

For more on this story: Trump raid could warrant AG Garland’s impeachment, Rand Paul says: ‘This is beyond the pale’

Former President Donald Trump, in a statement Wednesday, said he refused to answer questions from the New York attorney general’s office during a deposition in the civil investigation into the Trump family’s business practices

“Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” he said.

“What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution,” Trump added. “I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing.”

Trump’s motorcade was caught on video earlier Wednesday arriving at James’ office in Manhattan.

For more on this story: Trump invokes Fifth Amendment rights in deposition for New York AG James’ civil investigation

Former President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social Wednesday, said he is “at the very plush, beautiful, and expensive A.G.’s office.

“Nice working conditions, as people are being murdered all over New York – and she spends her time and effort on trying to ‘get Trump,'” he added.

Former President Donald Trump was photographed Wednesday leaving Trump Tower in Manhattan ahead of a meeting at the New York Attorney General’s Office about their civil investigation into the Trump family’s business practices.

The deposition comes just days after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home as part of an investigation into documents Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his private residence when he left office in January 2021.

Former President Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived Wednesday at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump will sit for a deposition in the New York Attorney General’s civil investigation into the Trump family’s business practices, Fox News reported yesterday.

FBI agents went through Melania Trump’s wardrobe and spent several hours inside former President Donald Trump’s private office Monday during their raid of Mar-a-Lago, according to the New York Post.

Investigators reportedly arrived on scene at 9 a.m. and didn’t leave until 6:30 p.m.

For more on this story:
FBI searched Melania’s wardrobe, Trump’s private office during Mar-a-Lago raid

Members of the federal law enforcement community across the country are beginning to grow frustrated, privately, with Attorney General Merrick Garland as he has remained silent since the search of the former President Donald Trump’s Florida home.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns Wednesday about the safety of FBI agents, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Garland following the search of Mar-a-Lago on Monday. 

Authorities monitoring social media posts are spotting an significant increase in death threats aimed towards agents, Wray and Garland, with these threats continuing at a steady pace online. 

Security procedures at the FBI and Justice Department are not made public and both Wray and Garland travel with armed security.

However, sources tell Fox News that there are discussions ongoing to potentially increase their security.

For more on this story: FBI agents, Garland and Wray see increased death threats after Trump Mar-a-Lago raid: sources

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent agents to Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump, on Monday to execute a search warrant but many questions still remain about the incident.

While the FBI has not specifically used the word “raid” — which has been used by Trump and major news outlets — it has yet to comment on who within the Biden administration first authorized the search.

The FBI obtained a search warrant, which was signed off by Florida federal magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart, but experts believe approval may have come directly from Attorney General Merrick Garland as no former president has faced a such search warrant — or a raid — by FBI agents in U.S. history.

The White House said Tuesday that it was not aware of the raid before it happened.

The FBI has also yet to clarify what property was retrieved during the search.

Prior to Monday’s search warrant, Trump’s legal team has been communicating with and has returned 15 boxes of White House records from Mar-a-Lago to NARA, including documents that contained classified information.

Trump contended his legal team has been cooperating with the FBI and that Monday’s actions came as a blindside.

The FBI has also not commented on why the search warrant was executed in the first place.

The incident is believed to be connected to the Presidential Records Act and whether Trump violated the 1978 law by taking documents to his Florida estate. Generally, violators of this measure have gone unpunished or have been quietly prosecuted.

Under the law, presidential documents are required to be preserved and should have been included in materials Trump handed over to the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) when he left office. 

The incident comes as Trump, who is potentially seeking re-election in 2024, continues to be investigated by Congress’ Jan. 6 select committee for his alleged participation in the 2020 Capitol Hill riots; by Georgia prosecutors over a 2020 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; and, by New York Attorney General Letitia James over whether the Trump Organization misled banks and tax authorities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago could wind up benefiting former President Donald Trump’s potential 2024 comeback bid. Political strategists say the Justice Department’s action against Trump has solidified Republican support behind the former president — at least for the time being. 

“I’ve never seen the GOP base this red-hot before, and it’s clearly causing Republicans to rally to his defense,” said Andy Surabian, a GOP strategist and former White House official under Trump. “Ironically, all the Democrat-media attacks on Trump, from yesterday’s raid to the January 6th Committee hearings, do nothing politically but ensure that Republican voters stay attached to his hip.” 

Click here for more on the story: FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago could boost Trump’s 2024 White House run, say strategists

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino called the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home a “constitutional abomination to our constitutional republic” and said the personnel involved with the raid should be fired.

“How many freaking times are we going to let the FBI interfere in an election?” Bongino asked rhetorically on Tuesday’s “Hannity.” 

“I mean, this is supposed to be a constitutional problem. I’m not crazy, right? Like this is supposed to be a representative democracy. Banana republic… we’re beyond a banana republic. We’re into like tin-pot dictator, third world stuff. This is embarrassing,” he added. 

“I don’t care who you are, an analyst or an upper level manager, the next president who comes in office, they should schedule as many people as they can in the federal government and fire every single person involved in this. Everyone. The receptionist in the FBI office who took a call on this should be fired,” he concluded.

Following the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s home, Sen. Marco Rubio said supporters of the former president will be targeted next.   

“I’m telling you the next thing you’re going to see here,  because it’s the playbook. And that is, they are now going to begin to say, ‘Oh, these Trump supporters, these Republicans, they’re very upset. They’re saying very angry things. We think they might be a threat. We think they’re radical extremists. Let’s start arresting them,'” Rubio said on “Hannity” Tuesday. 

“The next step in this process is going to be that people who are supporters of Donald Trump or just conservatives complaining about this … are going to begin to get labeled as potential insurrectionists and are going to begin to get harassed by law enforcement,” he added. “That’s the next step in this playbook, sadly.” 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence shows an act of desperation and defeat.

“What you saw last night at Mar-a-Lago was the desperation of a national machine that knows it’s on the edge of being defeated and then being eliminated. And I think you’ll see more desperation in the weeks to come,” Gingrich said, during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle” Tuesday.

The White House said Tuesday that President Biden and White House staff learned of the FBI’s unprecedented raid on former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago through public reports “just like the American people did,” and stressed Biden’s commitment to Justice Department investigations “free of political influence.” ,

When asked whether Biden or any White House officials were aware of the raid or had been briefed, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said they were not. 

“No. The president was not briefed, and he was not aware,” she said. “No, no one at the White House was given a heads-up. No, that did not happen.”

For more on the story: White House says Biden learned of FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago through reports, ‘just like the American people’

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks met with former President Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster Tuesday evening, and said the former commander-in-chief is “very upbeat,” and has “made up his mind” about 2024—a decision he will make public in “a matter of time.”

Banks, R-Ind., and nearly a dozen members of the House Republican Study Committee, including Reps. Brian Babin, Mike Kelly, Claudia Tenney, Victoria Spartz, Pat Fallon, Mike Carey, Lisa McClain, Michael Cloud, Randy Weber, Troy Nehls, and Erin Houchin, a congressional candidate from Indiana, met with Trump at his New Jersey retreat.

“He didn’t seem defeated in the least bit—he was very fired up, very upbeat,” Banks told Fox News of Trump’s attitude, just a day after the FBI raided his home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

“He said we are going to like his decision and it is only a matter of time before he will make that decision known,” Banks told Fox News, adding that Trump “enjoyed encouragement” from RSC members Tuesday to “get the decision out sooner rather than later.”

Click here to read more on the story: GOP Rep. Banks says Trump ‘fired up’ after FBI raid, ‘made up his mind’ on 2024: ‘Going to like his decision’

Former CBS reporter Dan Rather expounded on his feelings on the FBI raiding former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home Monday night in a post on Substack.

Rather and New York Times bestselling author Elliot Kirschner co-wrote a piece on Tuesday titled “The FBI Comes A-Knockin'” that praised the actions of the FBI as a time for Trump to “face the law.”

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Member of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Jim Banks is meeting with former President Trump tonight at Bedminster with about a dozen members of the Republican Study Committee in a pre-scheduled huddle to discuss the Biden administration’s attempts to “undo the Trump agenda” – but news of the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago is looming large.

“It’s deeply troubling for all of us,” Banks told Fox News of the raid. “There’s a level of outrage among House Republicans like I haven’t seen before – and we’ve been through Russia collusion, two sham impeachments, January 6th. But this is a new level of effort from Democrats to weaponize the FBI/DOJ.”

Banks said he and his colleagues are upset that the Biden administration and FBI have done nothing to alleviate fears that the raid on Trump’s home was politically motivated. “24 hours later, Garland has not appeared before cameras to justify the unprecedented move to raid a former President,” he said.

Banks also pointed to Pelosi and Schumer’s tepid statements on the matter – saying even Democratic congressional leaders have not been able to justify or explain the actions from the Biden DOJ.

“Democrats are having to explain how this raid is not an attack on democratic norms, and they can’t,” Banks said.

Banks said the DOJ and FBI must why an unprecedented step has been taken.

“This lies on the shoulders of Biden, Garland, and Wray. The fact that they haven’t done that yet is stunning,” Banks said.

Banks said when Republicans take back the majority in the House next year, Rep. Jim Jordan will chair the Judiciary Committee and immediately hearings on this matter that “deserve prime time attention.”

As for tonight’s meeting, Banks said his colleagues’ message to Trump is that the House GOP has taken a page from Trump’s playbook and knows how to fight back against the left. He said voters want to see that. If the House GOP doesn’t deliver on it, Banks said Republicans run the risk of letting Democrats keep the White House.

“Our party reflects Trump’s influence in a big way,” Banks said. “If we don’t do what we say we are going to do to before 2024, we won’t win back the White House.”

To Americans watching the news of the raid Banks offered this message: “The House GOP is fighting back. We stand United in outrage against the Biden White House and DOJ, and we stand with President Trump.”

The FBI would not let Trump attorneys watch as they raided former President Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago early Monday morning, a source familiar told Fox News.

Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida was raided by the FBI. Trump, at the time, was in New York City.

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“The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a Tuesday statement. “Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.”

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An Ohio congressman is demanding answers about the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s estate on Monday morning.

Ranking member Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, wrote a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray demanding an “immediate” briefing into the matter.

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Judiciary Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday said the FBI’s credibility was “one the line” following the agency’s raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“Less than a week ago, I expressed serious concern that what little remains of the FBI’s credibility is on the line following its inconsistent handling of politically sensitive investigations, failure to hold its own employees accountable for misconduct and consistent disregard for congressional oversight,” Grassley said in a statement. “Last night’s raid on the home of a former U.S. president without explanation will only further erode confidence in the FBI and the Justice Department.” 

Grassley said he reiterated his concerns to FBI Director Christopher Wray. He advised said if the agency isn’t transparent about the justification for Monday’s raid and isn’t committed to rooting out political bias, it “will have sealed their own fate.”

“The FBI’s mission and the many patriotic agents who work hard to carry it out will be forever overshadowed by the distrust the bureau has sown,” Grassley said.

He added: “The Justice Department as a whole bears responsibility in upholding the public trust, and in a matter so consequential to our democratic process, Attorney General Garland also owes the American people full transparency.” 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), a national group working to elect Democratic candidates to the House, insists Republicans are putting their midterm election chances at risk as they tie “themselves into knots defending” former President Donald Trump after his Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by the FBI on Monday.

In a statement shared first with Fox News Digital, Chris Taylor, a spokesperson for the DCCC, insisted that “voters will see the difference” between Republicans’ defense of Trump and the agenda Democrats have prioritized in recent days.

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Additional details continue to emerge regarding events leading up to the FBI’s raid Monday of former President Trump’s home in southern Florida.

On Monday evening, FBI agents executed a search warrant of Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago in connection to an ongoing Department of Justice probe into whether Trump kept classified government documents after departing the White House in January 2021, sources told Fox News Digital. 

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“Monday’s brazen raid was not just unprecedented, it was completely unnecessary. President Trump and his representatives have gone to painstaking lengths in communicating and cooperating with the appropriate agencies – something that is routine for all similar instances,” Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich said in a statement to Fox News.

“These disgusting actions by Joe Biden’s administration would make a third-world dictator blush. However, in the Democrats’ desperate attempt to retain power, they have unified and grown the entire conservative movement.” 

Sources tell Fox News that the search warrant for the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida was signed by a federal magistrate indicating that this is a criminal warrant emanating out of the criminal division of the FBI, not a national security warrant emanating from the NATSEC division. A national security would have been signed by a FISA judge. 

Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania says that the FBI has confiscated his cell phone.

Perry, in an exclusive statement, told Fox News on Tuesday that while traveling with his family earlier in the day, he was approached by three FBI agents who handed him a warrant and requested that he turn over his cell phone.

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The federal judge who reportedly signed off on the raid at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence donated thousands of dollars to former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and victory fund in 2008.

Bruce Reinhart, a Florida federal magistrate judge, donated $1,000 to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and added $1,000 more to the Obama Victory Fund that same cycle, according to federal filings.

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Democrats are desperate to stay on message, touting week of wins on Twitter while mostly staying quiet about the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Trump’s Florida residence was raided Monday after a warrant was obtained by the FBI, purportedly to search for confidential government documents the former president is accused of holding onto after leaving office. 

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Vulnerable House Democrats are staying largely silent following the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Fox News Digital reached out to each of the 21 Democrats running for re-election in districts considered “toss-ups,” as well as “lean” and “likely Republican,” and asked them for their reaction to the unannounced raid that has drawn sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle.

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Former senior Obama advisor David Axelrod joined the flocks of leftists approving of the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday, despite even more Twitter backlash.

Shortly after the news broke of several FBI agents executing a search warrant on Trump’s Florida property, many liberal media pundits cheered at the sight, going so far as to celebrate it.

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People in New York and D.C. weighed in on the FBI’s raid at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, with some calling it foul play while others celebrated the search. 

“It’s 100% selective justice,” one New Yorker told Fox News. “If this were the other way around someone would be crucified.”

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Former President Trump on Tuesday continued to excoriate ‘Radical Left’ Democrats after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago residence. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the raid was a continuation of Russian collusion allegations, the Impeachment “Hoax,” and more.

“To make matters it is all, in my opinion, a coordinated attack with Radical Left Democrat state & local D.A.’s & A.G.’s,” Trump said.

In a follow-up post, he accused President Biden of supposedly knowing about the raid, “just like he knew all about Hunter’s ‘deals.'”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., issued a warning to Americans following the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence that “they can do it to you.” On “America Reports” Tuesday, Blackburn also outlined questions she hopes to make FBI Director Christopher Wray answer. 

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Former President Trump on Tuesday blasted the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida as a political “Witch Hunt” that represented an assault on patriotic Americans. 

“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump bemoaned in a statement sent out via email by Trump’s Save America political action committee. 

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Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that he believes the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Florida home will make him more likely to run for president in 2024. 

Graham, R-S.C., also demanded more information on the impetus for the raid during comments at an event with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. 

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CNN legal analyst Paul Callan called the Justice Department’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home a “daring and dangerous move” that was “not warranted” if it was only about Trump holding onto classified documents after his time in office.

During CNN’s “At This Hour with Kate Bolduan” on Wednesday, the host spoke to legal analyst Paul Callan, who expressed hope that the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI have something more serious on Trump than currents reports indicate, otherwise their raid on Trump’s massive West Palm Beach residence went too far.

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Veteran political strategists James Carville and Ed Rollins aren’t quite seeing eye to eye on the political impact the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home could have on the midterm elections.

Speaking with Fox News Digital Tuesday, Carville, who was an adviser to former President Bill Clinton, said there wasn’t enough information about the raid to know just yet what it could mean for voters heading to the polls. 

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The White House on Tuesday maintained that it was not given any advance notice of the FBI’s unprecedented raid on former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, saying President Biden is  committed to the rule of law and Justice Department investigations “free of political influence.” 

Trump’s private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided by the FBI Monday morning, when the former president was in New York City. The raid was connected to an investigation into classified records Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his home when he left office in January 2021.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday dodged a question about the FBI’s Monday search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home during a Kentucky press conference. 

“I’m here to talk about the flood and recovery from the flood,” McConnell, R-Ky., said when asked about the raid. 

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The White House, Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI were all silent when asked Tuesday whether Americans deserve to know more about why former President Trump’s residence was raided.

“We did not have notice of the reported action and would refer you to the Justice Department for any additional information,” a White House official told Fox News Digital, repeating a previous statement.

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Several Democrats who supported the raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Monday previously criticized him for allegedly trying to “weaponize” the Justice Department on a number of different issues.

In a September 2019 tweet, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of trying to “weaponize” the Justice Department after it began investigating automakers who had reached a deal with California regarding fuel efficiency standards.

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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday called for full “transparency and accountability” from the federal government following the FBI raid and former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“Even before yesterday’s events at Mar-a-Lago, America was already dangerously divided,” Hogan said in a statement. “These are unprecedented circumstances that require unprecedented transparency and accountability from our government institutions. The American people deserve to know all the facts as soon as possible, and I call on the Biden administration to release—at a minimum—the documents authorizing the FBI search.”

He added: “If the federal government cannot ultimately provide overwhelming evidence that action was absolutely necessary, then it will only undermine faith in democracy and the rule of law, and further divide Americans.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence demanded that the “appearance of continued partisanship” by the Justice Department be addressed after the “unprecedented” raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

“I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump,” Pence tweeted Tuesday. “No former President of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence in American history.”

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A federal appeals court on Tuesday paved the way for the House Ways and Means Committee to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service – a move the former president has long pushed back on.

The decision is a blow to Trump, who may seek emergency intervention measures from the Supreme Court in an attempt to temporarily block any release of these tax records.

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Sen. Tim Scott Tuesday told Fox News Digital that the FBI’s Monday raid on former President Trump’s Florida home reinforces concerns he has about the agency becoming too political. 

The FBI raid is “shocking, stunning unprecedented without any question. It raises serious concerns from my perspective,” Scott said.

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Sources told Fox News on Tuesday that investigators from the Justice Department visited Mar-a-Lago in June for a meeting about turning over records as part of an investigation into documents former President Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his private residence when he left office in January 2021.

Trump’s attorneys were present at that meeting and the sources say the former president himself stopped in to say hello for a few minutes.

The meeting came months after the National Archives — with assistance from the Justice Department — was able to get 15 boxes of documents sent back to Washington, D.C. after expressing concern they were in Florida.

The June meeting was about additional documents that were being sought. But following it, the Justice Department and FBI felt they weren’t getting the same cooperation they had been receiving earlier in the probe, according to a source with knowledge of negotiations between Trump’s team and the federal entities.

The perceived lack of cooperation is why a search warrant was requested and ultimately executed on Monday, Aug. 8 at Trump’s Palm Beach property. 

Fox News’ David Spunt, Bill Mears and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

PALM BEACH, Fla. – Floridians outside Mar-a-Lago shared their reactions to the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s residence.

“I just feel like this isn’t Russia. This isn’t Venezuela. This isn’t China. This is the United States of America,” Adriene Chockett, from Lakeworth Beach, told Fox News. “And these things should not be happening in our country.”

“I’m just doing my small part. Just standing here for a few hours with the American flag,” Chockett continued. “I want to help save America. Save our country. Save our rights.”

For more on this story: Trump supporters outside Mar-a-Lago say FBI search was political 

After being endorsed by former President Donald Trump in their campaigns, Trump-backed candidates quickly came to the former president’s defense after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home Monday.

The FBI raided Trump’s home on Monday, in search of classified materials that Trump allegedly took back to his residence following his time in the White House.

Following the raid, Trump-endorsed midterm candidates raced to Twitter to defend the former Republican President.

For more on this story: Trump-backed candidates rush to his defense after ‘politically motivated’ Mar-a-Lago raid

Michael Cohen, a former attorney for former President Trump, declared on Tuesday that “the end is near” for his former boss after the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

“Here’s what Trump’s attorneys should be telling him: ‘when the fbi raids, all you can do is prepare for jail.’” Cohen tweeted. “No one is above the law!”

He tweeted the message along with the hashtag “#KarmaBoomerang” and an image of an uncomfortable-looking Trump with the caption: “The End is Near…”

For more on this story: Michael Cohen declares ‘the end is near’ for Trump after FBI raid

Rep. Jim Banks and members of the House Republican Study Committee are expected to meet with former President Trump at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey, Tuesday evening, Fox News has learned.

Banks, R-Ind., the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, is expected to bring a dozen members of the panel to Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to meet with the former president.

It is unclear, at this point, which RSC members will join Banks. 

For more on this story: House Republicans to meet with Trump at Bedminster, following Mar-a-Lago FBI raid

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is questioning how “detached” President Biden is from “his own administration,” after the White House said it was not given “notice” of the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided by the FBI Monday morning, when the former president was in New York City. The raid was connected to an investigation into classified records Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to home when he left office in January 2021.

When asked for comment Monday, a White House official told Fox News Digital: “We did not have notice of the reported action and would refer you to the Justice Department for any additional information.”

For more on this story: Johnson questions how ‘detached’ Biden is from his admin, after not being notified of FBI Mar-a-Lago raid

President Biden, speaking Tuesday while signing the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law, made no mention of the FBI’s raid last night at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Biden also took no questions from reporters following the speech.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign appears to be fundraising off the FBI raid at former President Donald Trump residence at Mar-a-Lago. 

“Every ‘But her emails’ hat or shirt sold helps @onwardtogether partners defend democracy, build a progressive bench, and fight for our values,” Clinton tweeted on Tuesday. “Just saying!”

Clinton used a personal email server to house classified information during her time as Secretary of State, which became a major issue of contention during her 2016 presidential run against Trump.

For more on this story: Hillary Clinton appears to fundraise off Mar-a-Lago search

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday.

Pelosi says she doesn’t have any insider information, but expects that authorities must have had “justification” for the raid. The FBI executed a search warrant on Trump’s resort on Monday, seeking documents that the former president had taken from the White House while leaving office in 2021.

“All I know about that is what is in the public domain. I was surprised that it flashed on my phone last evening, so I don’t really have too much to say except that to have a visit like that, you need a warrant. To have a warrant, you need justification. And that says that no one is above the law, not even a president or a former president of the United States,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

For more on this story: Nancy Pelosi reacts to FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, says authorities had ‘justification’

Former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI Monday morning in an unprecedented move by the bureau, and one connected to an investigation into records Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his private residence when he left office in January 2021.

Earlier this year, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said Trump took 15 boxes of presidential records to his personal residence in Florida. Those boxes allegedly contained “classified national security information,” and official correspondence between Trump and foreign heads of state.

NARA notified Congress in February that the agency recovered the 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago and “identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes.”

For more on this story: Trump raid linked to DOJ, National Archives probe into classified docs allegedly taken to Mar-a-Lago

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sounding off Tuesday on the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago.

In a tweet, Cuomo says the Justice Department “must immediately explain the reason for its raid and it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation and legitimacy of January 6 investigations.”

For more on this story: Cuomo says Justice Department ‘must immediately explain’ Trump raid or risk undermining January 6 probe.

President Biden is speaking Tuesday for the first time since former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI.