Raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago May Be Legal but It Looks Suspicious, Legal Experts Say

Although the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Fla., is shocking and may violate American democratic norms, it is still possible that it is a legitimate part of the law enforcement process, legal commentators told The Epoch Times.

But not enough is yet known about the facts of the case to say for sure, they added.

On the morning of Aug. 8, the FBI suddenly and without warning executed a search warrant for the premises at Mar-a-Lago, the private resort in Palm Beach where the former president now lives. The search warrant and the affidavit or affidavits supporting it have not been made public but U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the afternoon of Aug. 11 that he has asked the court to unseal the warrant. The White House has denied that President Joe Biden, who may be Trump’s opponent again in 2024 should Trump obtain the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, knew about the raid in advance. Trump himself has not said if he will run again.

Media reports based on confidential sources indicate the FBI was seeking materials that Trump may have brought home with him after his presidential term ended. The National Archives and Records Administration referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in hopes of retrieving 15 boxes of allegedly unaccounted for classified material.

Presidents routinely take documents related to their presidencies with them when they leave office. Former President Barack Obama reportedly had 30 million documents from his time in office sent to Chicago to his presidential library. Sometimes the legal status of the documents is unclear–especially since in the American system of government it is the president himself who can at will declassify sensitive documents—and the former president and the new administration enter into talks to get the documents

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