Trump home searched by FBI
First-of-its kind search appears to center on theft of classified national security documents.
For the first time in American history, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has searched the home of a former president and seized documents related to a criminal investigation. The specific items sought have not been made public, though members of the Trump family have said the search relates to Trump’s handling of classified materials.
The National Archives previously confirmed that, after leaving office, Trump had taken at least 15 boxes of materials, some marked classified, to his private residence in Florida. Those documents belong to the American people, and to the US government, not to Mr. Trump. Under a law he signed in 2018, his actions constitute a felony punishable by 5 years in prison. That same law would bar Trump from ever holding federal office again, if he is convicted.
While Trump and his allies decry the act as politically motivated overreach, others observe that the reason Trump is the first US president to be treated like a criminal by law enforcement because he has committed crimes.
It has also been widely reported that in such a search, the FBI would present the warrant as well as a list of every item being sought and what was removed by law enforcement. If no incriminating or classified materials were sought or found, Mr. Trump could release those documents and let the public see the search was not appropriate.
David Laufman, who previously ran the counterintelligence division of the Department of Justice and oversaw other high profile investigations into alleged mishandling of classified materials, has said:
“For the department to pursue a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago tells me that the quantum and quality of the evidence they were reciting — in a search warrant and affidavit that an FBI agent swore to — was likely so pulverizing in its force as to eviscerate any notion that the search warrant and this investigation is politically motivated.”
We now know that, contrary to claims Trump has made after the search, his lawyers were in talks with the FBI about how to return documents the former president had taken. It remains unclear why Trump stole classified materials, and at this writing we still don’t know which documents he declined to return after being subpoenaed to do so. Some observers suggest Trump and his lawyers, and possibly other witnesses linked to Trump, may have been uncooperative or misleading.
There are also suspicions the FBI is acting at this time due to concerns evidence might be destroyed. Yesterday, one day after the Trump search, FBI agents surprised Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) with a warrant to seize his phone. The reason for surprise searches and seizures like this, according to experienced federal prosecutors and legal scholars, is because advance warning creates an opportunity to destroy evidence. Evidence of that suspicion would likely have been provided to the judge that issued the warrant.
It has been a bad week for Donald Trump.
On Monday, the FBI searched his residence and removed 12 boxes of evidence.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ordered his tax returns be handed over to Congressional investigators.
On Wednesday, he declined to give testimony to New York prosecutors, citing his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Now two days after the historic FBI search of his private home, Trump’s protestations are looking increasingly feeble. His concerns about self-incrimination in the New York deposition disappoint supporters who want to believe he did not commit financial crimes. His refusal to release the warrant and inventory of seized materials create suspicion even among his supporters that he has real concerns about legal exposure.
No member of Trump’s team has even attempted to assert that he was not holding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. His removal of those documents is a felony; his refusal to return them after being ordered to do so by a subpoena is a separate crime and may constitute new material evidence of an attempt to frustrate investigations into other crimes.
It is a violation of the Presidential Records Act for anyone, including the President, to destroy documents that relate to the President’s official duties. This includes notes, drafts, and planning documents. The reason for this prohibition is the way President Richard Nixon sought to destroy documents to conceal criminal wrongdoing.
Trump was widely reported to have had a habit of destroying documents, both before entering the White House and during his time there. He often tore documents into small pieces and threw them in the trash. New reporting reveals his response to that reporting—and to the alarm of White House staff—was to attempt to destroy document by flushing them down the toilet.