When the F.B.I. raided former President Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago on Monday, this was no ordinary legal search of a citizen’s home. Instead, raiding a prior president’s home signaled an escalation of the investigation into Trump’s actions, as they pertain to what he took with him when he left the office of the president.
Entering a president’s home is no small affair. For this unprecedented search to occur, the Department of Justice had to show strong reasons for the raid. Then, the very top officials of the Department of Justice had to sign off on the raid.
The raid was part of a court-ordered search and examination into what official and classified documents left the White House at the end of Trump’s term and were taken to his residence at Mar-a-Lago.
The reason for the FBI raid is reported to be the result of an ongoing investigation as to whether Trump illegally mishandled official documents when was president and when he left office. If Trump did illegally mishandle official documents, this is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
The Presidential Records Act is clear on the law. All documents and call logs must be not only preserved but also given to the National Archives. These materials, legally required to be sent to the National Archives, include all letters, memos, emails, notes, faxes, and written materials connected to a president’s work.
However, numerous instances of Trump removing or destroying documents have been made public by numerous sources, including White House staff.
Trump would tear up official documents, and then White House staff would stuff them into ‘burn bags’ and have them incinerated.
This is the first time in US history that any president has been accused of this destruction and violation of the Presidential Records Act.
When President Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office, presidents were not legally bound to archive their materials. However, after the Watergate scandal in 1974, when damning tapes brought down President Nixon, this changed. The Presidential Records Act became federal law in 1978.
Destroying OR HIDING official documents is a federal crime.
The penalty for this crime is possible jail time, up to three years, and disqualification from holding public office.
Republicans are condemning the FBI raid, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying they will investigate the Department of Justice if their party takes back the House in the midterm elections.
After thoroughly searching the premises, including breaking open a safe and spending time in former first lady Melania Trump’s rooms and closets, the FBI agents searching Mar-a-Lago retrieved a dozen boxes from Trump’s residence on Monday.
However, the raid was foreshadowed for many months prior to Monday’s events.
The Justice Department investigated Trump’s handling of official and classified documents starting near the final days of the former president’s time in office. Their concerns, made public and known to Trump, were that materials that were allegedly classified were taken from the White House to Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.
Long after Trump left office, in January 2022, Trump argued with the National Archives about boxes he had at his residence. He then gave the National Archives fifteen boxes of materials, which did not include all of his documents.
However, the federal authorities believed Trump or his team kept vital and classified records and did not give them to the National Archives as the law dictates.
Unlike the public outcry by former president Trump upon learning about the nine-hour raid of his residence at Mar-a-Lago, he and his attorneys worked with the Department of Justice a few months prior, including a search of an ‘unsecured’ storage unit and a viewing of about a dozen boxes in the basement of the residence.
Trump blared out his news about the raid, calling it unfair, and complaining that they “broke” his safe.
In a published statement, Trump’s spokesperson Taylor Budowich said, “President Trump and his representatives have gone to painstaking lengths in communicating and cooperating with the appropriate agencies. In the Democrats’ desperate attempt to retain power, they have unified and grown the entire conservative movement.”
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