Former President Donald Trump said Monday that FBI agents raided his home in Palm Beach, Florida, called Mar-a-Lago.
The Department of Justice declined to comment, and Trump himself, in a statement, did not say why the agents were there.
What exactly happened on Monday? And why?
The latest:
- Law enforcement agents searched Trump's Florida home on Monday.
- Two people familiar with the search told USA TODAY the action was connected to Trump's alleged removal of documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago property when his term in office was over.
- Trump also claimed that agents searched his safe, but did not elaborate. “They even broke into my safe,” he said in his statement.
- The FBI notified the Secret Service in advance of the law enforcement action, allowing for federal investigators' access the former president's property, according to a person familiar with the matter.
What's about to happen
It remains to be seen what documents or other items might have been removed from the property or how those items might relate to an investigation.
Trump, along with many of his key allies, is under investigation for a range of issues, from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to Trump family business dealings; there's no word yet on how Monday's action by law enforcement could impact any of those probes.
See for yourself:FBI searches Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida
Top takeaways
- The raid marks an escalation in law enforcement scrutiny of the former president.
- Legal analysts say this would have been approved at the highest levels of law enforcement.
What they are saying
- In a statement, Trump railed against the search. "These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before."
- "It's hugely significant, but also, I think, predictable to a certain degree, right, because he is currently the subject of a number of criminal investigations," former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told USA TODAY.
- "The idea that the FBI or any other law enforcement agency is raiding a former president’s house is stunning, period – and unprecedented. Even for Trump,” historian Matthew Dallek told USA TODAY.
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Why it matters
A law enforcement action lion the home of a former U.S. president has little precedent in American politics — if any. The news sent shockwaves through the political world on Monday, with Trump allies appearing on conservative media to blast the move and Trump antagonists underscoring the potential peril to the nation's 45th president.
Want to know more? Here's what you missed
Read the full breaking news here:Former President Donald Trump says federal agents raided Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home
Previously:DOJ plans to investigate handling of White House records sent to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort
The attorney general speaks:Garland vows to pursue charges on 'anyone' criminally responsible for Jan. 6 when pressed on Trump
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