Political leaders from both political parties have reacted to the search conducted at President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
The former president announced that the property was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” said Trump in a statement to his supporters on Aug. 8. “They even broke into my safe!”
Christina Bobb, an attorney from Trump, was present at Mar-a-Lago and confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation “did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper,” per NBC.
“Just hours before agents searched Trump's residence, the FBI notified the Secret Service about the bureau’s plans to execute the warrant, according to a Secret Service official,” the outlet noted. “The Secret Service facilitated access to the property … but did not participate in any aspect of the search.”
The news of the raid shocked other Republicans.
Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie said the nation is in “a race to the bottom.”
“In third world countries and banana republics they prosecute the former presidents/leaders and their staff. Right now, we look beneath them,” he tweeted.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shared a similar sentiment, calling the “raid of MAL” an “escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents.”
“Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
“The FBI raid on Trump’s home tells us one thing. Failure is not an option,” tweeted Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar.
“We must destroy the FBI,” added Gosar on Twitter. “We must save America.”
Former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said the Department of Justice “must immediately explain the reason for its raid."
“It must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation & legitimacy of January 6 investigations,” he wrote in a statement.
While appearing on CNN, legal analyst Paul Callan said that a violation of the Presidential Records Act was not enough to warrant the FBI’s search of a former president's private residence, which he described as a “daring and dangerous move.”
The day after the raid at Mar-a-Lago, reporters at the White House repeatedly asked President Joe Biden to comment on FBI's actions. Biden, who was signing documents approving Finland and Sweden for NATO Membership on Aug. 9, declined to answer any questions.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing that the White House was not warned in advance of the raid on Trump’s property.
“The Justice Department conducts investigations independently and we leave any law enforcement matters to them,” she said on Aug. 9. “We are not involved.”
She said the Biden administration found out about the raid “just like the American public did.”
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked, “Is this administration weaponizing the Justice Department and the FBI against political opponents?”
“The president believes in the rule of law. The president believes in the independence of the Department of Justice,” Jean-Pierre replied.
The Press Secretary ultimately declined to comment on the raid 18 times during the briefing.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson called the raid “unsupported and hostile targeting of a former President by the FBI and DOJ” that was contrary to “their independent and nonpartisan law enforcement duty.”
“Never have such actions been taken against a former President, and the White House’s denial of knowledge about such an unprecedented move is either a lie or complete failure of leadership,” Parson said in an online statement.”The DOJ must immediately answer for these actions.”
