What's Going On with Trump and the FBI?

By Eva Kroh

Last Monday, late morning, Mar-a-Lago staff and residents found themselves witness to an FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's private residence in Palm Beach Florida. Top secret and other sensitive documents were suspected of being in the residence which would directly violate the Espionage Act. The content of these documents are unknown. Many commentators speculate, however the agency has yet to share this information to the public. 

This search was historic for the Justice Department and FB, never has any federal entity investigated the residence of a former president. Safe to say this case has drawn the attention of everyone across the country. It spurred many reactions from both sides of the political spectrum. Amongst conservatives and Trump supporters throughout the nation, actors such as Marjorie Taylor Greene called for Merrick Garland's impeachment. Many people aligned with Trump's ideology rebelled and condemned the FBI’s actions, even Sen. Ted. Cruz called the raid “corrupt” and “an abuse of power.” in a tweet shortly after the events. This contrasts to the reaction of the majority of democratic leaders who supported the Justice Department's actions, with Nancy Pelosi stating “I don't really have too much to say except that to have a visit like that, you need a warrant. To have a warrant, you need justification. And that says that no one is above the law, not even a president or a former president of the United States” This attests to the polarized and heavily scrutinized actions of the ongoing Trump investigation. To help clarify the prior events to the raid is a simplified break down of events; 

Jan. 2022; 15 boxes of presidential records were returned to the National Archives and Records Administration, this was after a prior Trump administrator and informed the Archives that Mar-a-Lago contained these records nearly a year after Mr. Trump had left office. The agency says that under federal law, all records have to be preserved, a process that is “critical to our democracy.”

Feb. 18, 2022: The agency found classified information within the 15 boxes of White House records that had been turned over by former President Trump. This posed a further investigation. As federal law states a strict prohibition of classified documents  to unauthorized locations. (Mar-a-Lago is not an authorized location) 

Feb. 25, 2022: Additional documents are requested from The House Committee on Oversight and Reform from the National Archives as part of Trump's handling of White House presidential records. 

Aug. 5, 2022: A South Florida Judge, Bruce Reinhart, approves a search warrant application for the Mar-a-Lago residence. This means that the judge had seen evidence which provided probable cause to search Mr. Trump's private residence. This search warrant was sealed from the public. (Sealed warrants in this instance is typical procedure) 

Aug 8, 2022: The FBI executes the search at Mar-a-Lago.