Donald Trump Said The FBI Served A Search Warrant At Mar-A-Lago, His Florida Estate

Reports said the search warrant centered on boxes of presidential records Trump improperly took with him when he left the White House.

Donald Trump said the FBI served a search warrant at his estate in Florida on Monday as the former president continues to face a flurry of investigations over the Jan. 6 insurrection, interference in the 2020 election, fraud, and other issues.

In a lengthy statement, Trump said "a large group of FBI agents" were raiding Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach, in an effort he deemed was "not necessary or appropriate."

In addition to slamming law enforcement, Trump also disparaged Democrats. It wasn't clear what items the warrant was seeking, but the former president said agents opened his safe.

A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. The execution of a search warrant requires signoff by a federal judge, who authorizes such a measure after being presented with evidence of potential crimes.

CNN reported that Trump was not in Florida at the time of the raid and instead at Trump Tower in New York. A representative for the former president did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment. The Secret Service, which continues to protect the former president, referred inquiries to the FBI.

The raid was first reported by Florida Politics, a local site. Citing sources, the New York Times, Politico, and the Associated Press reported that the search warrant centered on boxes of presidential records Trump improperly took with him when he left the White House. The National Archives and Records Administration said in February that it had retrieved 15 boxes of documents in mid-January, but that it believed Trump still had more records to turn over.

The AP reported that the agency referred the matter to the Department of Justice after discovering classified information in the documents it recovered earlier this year.

The National Archives and DOJ did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' requests for comment.

Monday's raid comes as members of Congress and authorities in New York, Georgia, and Washington, DC, continue to investigate Trump over last year's attack on the Capitol, for interference in the 2020 presidential election, and for financial fraud. Over the course of several public hearings, the House's Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack has laid out its case against the former president. Through testimony and evidence, the committee has shown that he knew the claims of voter fraud were false yet continued to pressure lawmakers, election officials, and then–vice president Mike Pence to overturn the results. Trump also knew that his supporters who stormed the Capitol were armed but resisted calls to condemn the attack for hours.

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