Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Home Raided by FBI

 

Via Fox News.

Former President Trump on Monday said that his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida is “under siege” by a “large group” of FBI agents.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said. “It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections.”

“Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before,” Trump said, alleging that the FBI agents broke into his safe.

“What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee?” he said. “Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”

Multiple sources tell Fox News the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago is related to the materials Trump allegedly brought to his private residence after his presidency concluded. That matter was referred to the Justice Department by the National Archives and Records Administration, which said it found classified material in 15 boxes at the residence.

Per the CNN article, he was not home at the time.

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 290 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    This is just weird. This all feels off-kilter. So the FBI is making a raid now, because they have (per CNN) an unofficial policy of not doing big moves 90 days before an election, and they want to get the classified documents for THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, because Trump was known, supposedly, to tear things up and flush them down the toilet.

    Well. I can believe that the National Archives wants everything; it’s in the username. I can believe that Trump would tear up stuff he didn’t want preserved, unless you think that he was personally horrified by the idea that this *stupid piece of paper from some idiot that said something stupid* simply must be preserved to maintain the total integrity of the historical record. What, tear up this printed copy of a Tweet I had in my drafts folder? Perish the thought. I know I’m supposed to get all watergatey when I hear “classified,” but A) we learned how many levels of “classified” exist, and B) how it doesn’t matter if the sender is the Secretary of State using a private server, because “classified” might apply to her yoga appointments.

    I can believe he had some stuff in his personal safe, but if was proof of some perfidy, and he’s also accused of ripping things up, well, are we supposed to believe he took the transcripts of his conversation with Putin in which he promised to toe the Russian line, and kept it? Is the stuff in the safe proof of his misdeeds, or someone else’s? Or, was this an excuse to hoover up everything in the safe and sort it out later?

     

    This is a hyuge line to cross, and to do it without something big behind it seems immensely foolhardy. I’d say the downsides outweigh the positives, but the FBI can probably count on a friendly media and anti-Trump cohort to shrug if nothing comes of it. Best case scenario: someone in Atlantic mag or the WaPo ediorial section, two years hence, en route to condemning the DeSantis administration’s investigation of Biden-China financial connections, admits that the Trump raid “opened the door” to these things, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT RIGHT

    It will be a dangerous precedent when it’s applied to a D.

    I would bet it is something that is politically damaging to Biden. The FBI is just a retrieval agency for the skeletons in Biden’s closet now.

    James said a mouthful – this is a HUUUGGEEE line and completely bizarre and disturbing – something that would happen in a communist country. Maybe he had another of Hunter’s laptops or his little black book – I am really stunned folks…….

    • #121
  2. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    GlennAmurgis (View Comment):

    These are the norms that David French and Bill Kristol yearned for when they pushed for Burisma Joe Biden

    Everything that they stated about Trump could be said about Biden.

     

    And people here at Ricochet. Let’s not leave them off the hook. 

     

     

    • #122
  3. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Their endgame is the imprisonment or death of President Trump, and anyone close to him. And they will continue until they achieve their ends, no matter how long it takes or how many others they have to take down. Arm yourselves, friends. We are next.

    I agree. 

    • #123
  4. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    The appropriate response is the one Kevin McCarthy promised: when Republicans take back the house, scour the institutions, beginning with the DoJ.

    Promises, promises.

    • #124
  5. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    The appropriate response is the one Kevin McCarthy promised: when Republicans take back the house, scour the institutions, beginning with the DoJ.

    Promises, promises.

    I have no doubt they will do nothing if they take the House Back. 

     

    • #125
  6. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    The appropriate response is the one Kevin McCarthy promised: when Republicans take back the house, scour the institutions, beginning with the DoJ.

    Promises, promises.

    I have no doubt they will do nothing if they take the House Back.

     

    IF there are elections. Forget about fraudulent ones.

    • #126
  7. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    The appropriate response is the one Kevin McCarthy promised: when Republicans take back the house, scour the institutions, beginning with the DoJ.

    Promises, promises.

    Republicans threaten to “investigate.” Democrats tremble. With laughter. 

    • #127
  8. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    And the raid just accentuates the impression many people have that this is all political. 

    Yes, though the intent was to accentuate to the Trump-haters that Trump is a criminal.

    I mean, if they were trying to widen the divide in this country, they couldn’t have picked a better act.

    • #128
  9. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):
    Hunter? not raided.

    You know Hunter is not going to be raided since Mr. Liz Cheney works at the same law firm defending him:

    https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/08/liz-cheneys-husband-is-partner-at-law-firm-representing-hunter-biden/

    • #129
  10. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Stad (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):
    Hunter? not raided.

    You know Hunter is not going to be raided since Mr. Liz Cheney works at the same law firm defending him:

    https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/08/liz-cheneys-husband-is-partner-at-law-firm-representing-hunter-biden/

    The incest within the federal government (and especially within law enforcement) is just like it is in the media.

    Fusion GPS, Nellie Ohr and Christopher Steele … [link]

     

    • #130
  11. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat
    1. Who ordered the search warrant and when?
    2. Who broke news of the raid – CNN?
    3. Was Trump home at the time?    

    Reading conflicting reports and they are all sketchy…..

    • #131
  12. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Stad (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):
    Hunter? not raided.

    You know Hunter is not going to be raided since Mr. Liz Cheney works at the same law firm defending him:

    https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/08/liz-cheneys-husband-is-partner-at-law-firm-representing-hunter-biden/

    Spider webs have poisonous spiders – where is that can of “RAID”??

    • #132
  13. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    The appropriate response is the one Kevin McCarthy promised: when Republicans take back the house, scour the institutions, beginning with the DoJ.

    Promises, promises.

    I have no doubt they will do nothing if they take the House Back.

     

    I am more cynical the house will do something.  Doesn’t cost them anything and it is useful read meat for the base.  The senate will punt easy for them to do with out any real cost.  In the end we will see “something”, but it will be the standard kabuki failure theatre.

    • #133
  14. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    I would bet it is something that is politically damaging to Biden. The FBI is just a retrieval agency for the skeletons in Biden’s closet now.

    Just two weeks ago, Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Wray and Garland saying that a lot of whistleblower were coming forward claiming that the FBI and DOJ coordinated a cover-up of the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop.  Maybe they’re related. 

    • #134
  15. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Local news is bringing up the old Maggot Haberman story about Trump flushing documents down the toilet. Come on; it’s hard enough to flush toilet paper anymore with those new low-flow things. Well, if did flush them, why are they searching for them at Mar-a-lago? So far, I’ve heard nothing that made sense.

    When I try to examine this with my analytical lawyer mind, I just don’t understand the reasoning for a raid.

    Only in the fevered imaginations of his opponents does Mr. Trump disobey court orders. He actually has a pretty solid history of compliance. So if there’s a dispute about the status of some of the documents he has, he would almost certainly comply with a court instruction to preserve them. No raid necessary.

    And the raid just accentuates the impression many people have that this is all political.

    Impression?! After all the democrat party has subjected this President to on a personal basis? This is another one of those “conspiracy (sic) theories” that turn out to be a prophetic truth.

    This is ALL political.

    This just proves that the prior lawlessness within the DOJ/FBI has only gotten worse with the ‘new’ team.

    I was trying to make an argument that might get through to a Democrat.

    • #135
  16. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    GlennAmurgis (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    Richard Easton (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Rodin (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    They must actually believe he can win in 2024.

    If they didn’t want him to run for president in 2024, this is the worst move they could’ve made. If Anything Would Drive President Trump into declaring his candidacy, this is the act that would do it.

    And get a lot of people that would prefer a different standard bearer, like DeSantis, to rally to Trump for 2024.

    Has DeSantis commented?

    He’s condemned it.

    Here’s the thing, if Trump is *prevented* from running in 2024, then DeSantis or whoever condemns this in the strongest fashion, and is intent on gutting the FBI and rescinding the Patriot Act, etc. will win in a landslide.

    It will be the biggest backlash in American history. If Trump is ‘off the table’ they can’t continue this charade. DeSantis or some other candidate will emerge and it will be difficult to use the same rationale.

    So they need Trump as a boogeyman. So if they are smart (and I’m not sure they are) they are trying to wound Trump but not kill him and then employ their extra-legal tactics with the rationale that he’s “unfit” as justification for shenanigans.

    Abolish the FBI and start from scratch.

    Or we can just have a civil war…

    Either way…

    Just had an odd thought: Those men and women in the military and law enforcement are supposed to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. Will they? Will they be on the side of election integrity? I’m not sure anymore.

    They are on the side of following orders and their pensions.

    and just think – Schumer et al just created an Army of IRS agents to do their bidding

     

    GlennAmurgis (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

     

    Or we can just have a civil war…

    Either way…

    Just had an odd thought: Those men and women in the military and law enforcement are supposed to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. Will they? Will they be on the side of election integrity? I’m not sure anymore.

    They are on the side of following orders and their pensions.

    and just think – Schumer et al just created an Army of IRS agents to do their bidding

     

    I saw a video of Da Nang Dickless and Lindsey Graham laughing off any concerns citizens might have. 

    • #136
  17. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    This is depressing. I’ve always believed that part of the exceptionalism we have as Americans is the fundamental soundness of our institutions. Sure we have corrupt government officials, and even significant pockets of institutional malfeasance. But I never thought we had corrupt institutions per se.

    I know some of you had already gone there a long time ago, but I was holding out in my basic faith in our institutions. Well, I’m not anymore. The FBI isn’t just a basically sound institution with some corrupt agents, it’s now a corrupt institution at its core.  Like I say, its depressing, because my whole attitude toward government and our nation is now changing.

    • #137
  18. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    J Climacus (View Comment):

    This is depressing. I’ve always believed that part of the exceptionalism we have as Americans is the fundamental soundness of our institutions. Sure we have corrupt government officials, and even significant pockets of institutional malfeasance. But I never thought we had corrupt institutions per se.

    I know some of you had already gone there a long time ago, but I was holding out in my basic faith in our institutions. Well, I’m not anymore. The FBI isn’t just a basically sound institution with some corrupt agents, it’s now a corrupt institution at its core. Like I say, its depressing, because my whole attitude toward government and our nation is now changing.

    I’m in the same position as you.  I found this raid to be a shocking event, which I suppose I shouldn’t have.

    I also felt that this raid changed everything – it put us in a different place, as a country.  But honestly, we were probably already there.

    There is no one so blind as he who will not see.  Apparently I’ve been fooling myself.

    This is pretty hard to ignore, though.  Even if you want to.

    • #138
  19. David C. Broussard Coolidge
    David C. Broussard
    @Dbroussa

    I’m not sure I’ve liked such a high percentage of comments on a post before.

    In a decent world, Congress would investigate and punish those guilty, but since they never did that for the past transgressions…I doubt it will happen if the GOP ever gets control of Congress again. 

    • #139
  20. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    David C. Broussard (View Comment):

    I’m not sure I’ve liked such a high percentage of comments on a post before.

    In a decent world, Congress would investigate and punish those guilty, but since they never did that for the past transgressions…I doubt it will happen if the GOP ever gets control of Congress again.

    But, but, BUT!! Jan. 6!!! Buffoons. 

    • #140
  21. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    • #141
  22. Hank Rhody's Grandson Member
    Hank Rhody's Grandson
    @OldDanRhody

    Where was the Secret Service?  What is their role in this?

    • #142
  23. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Annefy (View Comment):

    As early as last week, I was calling it 50/50 that there would even be an election in November 2022.

    As of today, 60/40, no election/election. If anything, that’s optimistic.

    There will be an election.  It is necessary so they can claim legitimacy.  Just like many tyrants.

    • #143
  24. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Andy McCarthy is pretty sure this is not about any classified documents, but a fishing expedition to find something, anything, that might give them a reason to charge Trump with some Jan.6-related felony.

    He’s probably right.

    He still displays way too much faith that the DOJ isn’t a thoroughly corrupt organization.

    • #144
  25. Justin Other Lawyer Coolidge
    Justin Other Lawyer
    @DouglasMyers

    Andy McCarthy’s piece today is both interesting and disturbing (I won’t bother with the link since it’s behind the paywall).

    First, he hypothesizes that the search was authorized based on clear allegations of wrongdoing related to classified documents and the National Archives.  He believes that this clearly-authorized search was a pretext to find evidence related to Jan. 6.

    McCarthy suggests this is typical behavior for a prosecutor who (by way of example) knows a criminal has committed crime X (for which there’s ample evidence) but who would also like to know if the criminal has committed crime Y (for which there’s less than ample evidence).  So the prosecutor gets a legal warrant based on crime X, and hopes to find evidence during the search of crime Y.  McCarthy claims this is normal behavior for prosecutors.

    Second, and the disturbing part, is that McCarthy seems to miss the point that this type of pretextual search is particularly dangerous when dealing with a former president.  What if they find no evidence related to Jan. 6 (as I suspect they won’t)?  What if they don’t even find evidence of the mishandling of documents?  The DOJ and FBI have breached yet another norm related to politically motivated prosecutions.

    This is an especially dangerous place for the Justice Department/Biden Administration to have taken our country.  I hope for everyone’s sake that there’s a “there” there.  ‘Cause they got some ‘splainin’ to do.

    And if there’s not a “there” there, then there better be some hell to pay (which, I know, is sadly unlikely).

    N.B., Charles C.W. Cooke has a very good piece this morning as well (but, alas, it too is behind the paywall).

    **Edit: I see I stepped on Drew’s comment.  Sorry for the duplication.

    • #145
  26. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Justin Other Lawyer (View Comment):

    **Edit: I see I stepped on Drew’s comment. Sorry for the duplication.

    Eh, you described his column in full. I just gave a brief overview. No worries.

    • #146
  27. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Andy McCarthy is pretty sure this is not about any classified documents, but a fishing expedition to find something, anything, that might give them a reason to charge Trump with some Jan.6-related felony.

    He’s probably right.

    He still displays way too much faith that the DOJ isn’t a thoroughly corrupt organization.

    Frankly, anything to do with the J6 protest is nothing more than a sick fishing expedition. 

    It was a protest. 

    • #147
  28. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MarciN (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Andy McCarthy is pretty sure this is not about any classified documents, but a fishing expedition to find something, anything, that might give them a reason to charge Trump with some Jan.6-related felony.

    He’s probably right.

    He still displays way too much faith that the DOJ isn’t a thoroughly corrupt organization.

    Frankly, anything to do with the J6 protest is nothing more than a sick fishing expedition.

    It was a protest.

    And unlike the Inauguration Day Protests in 2017, Washington wasn’t burned by the protesters and cars weren’t set on fire.

    But that was okay, because Democrats did those things.

    • #148
  29. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    There probably won’t even be an election in 2022, much less 2024.

    And anyway, if we do have an election, it’ll probably be stolen so the Democrats remain in power.

    And even if we do have an election and Republicans manage to win it, nothing will change because Republicans are useless.

    Oh, and we will never overturn Roe v. Wade.

    • #149
  30. Justin Other Lawyer Coolidge
    Justin Other Lawyer
    @DouglasMyers

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    There probably won’t even be an election in 2022, much less 2024.

    And anyway, if we do have an election, it’ll probably be stolen so the Democrats remain in power.

    And even if we do have an election and Republicans manage to win it, nothing will change because Republicans are useless.

    Oh, and we will never overturn Roe v. Wade.

    100%

    Wait. What? I almost think you’re trolling. 

    • #150
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.