FBI Agents Search Mar-a-Lago, President Trump Says

PALM BEACH, FL — Mar-a-Lago, the resort and residence of former president Donald Trump, was raided by the FBI, Trump confirmed Monday evening, reportedly in search of classified records he took from the White House to his Florida residence, the Associated Press reported.

Trump said the raid was unannounced and that the resort was "currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents" in a statement published in full by CNBC. He said he had cooperated with the relevant agencies and speculated the raid could be politically motivated.

"They even broke into my safe!" he said. "What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States."

The Biden White House said it had no prior knowledge of the search, AP said.

The search was part of a probe into how classified documents ended up in more than a dozen boxes located at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, AP reported.

Eric Trump said on Fox News on Monday night that he had spent the day with his father and that the search happened because “the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”

The search was court-authorized, a person familiar with the probe told The Washington Post, which reported the agents were investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents sent to the resort. Such a search would need clearance from "the highest levels of the U.S. Justice Department," the Post reported, noting a department spokesperson declined to comment when asked if Attorney General Merrick Garland had granted the approval. The FBI also declined to comment to the Post.

"The F.B.I. would have needed to convince a judge that it had probable cause that a crime had been committed to get a search warrant," The New York Times reported, noting Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when the raid occurred and that the search appeared to focus on material Trump brought to the Florida resort after his time in the White House. The raid happened Monday morning, according to the Times.

The National Archives and Records Administration in January took 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago, according to the Post, which reported the records should not have left the White House with Trump. This raised questions about if Trump had violated the Presidential Records Act, the Post reported. Archivist of the United States David Ferriero said in February that Trump representatives were “continuing to search” for more records, according to the Post.

President Joe Biden's aides were stunned by the news and told the Times they had learned about the raid on Twitter.

The Justice Department has been intensifying its questioning of past Trump aides who witnessed conversations regarding Trump's attempts to continue as president despite losing reelection in 2020, according to the Times. Federal prosecutors have been asking about Trump in connection with a scheme to send false electors to the Electoral College certification, the Times reported.

Also Monday, Politico reported former federal prosecutor John Rowley was representing Trump in communications with the Justice Department about executive privilege as it related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack investigation.