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LAST UPDATE | 9 Aug 2022
FORMER US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said that his Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida was being “raided” by FBI agents in what he called an act of “prosecutorial misconduct.”
The FBI declined to comment on whether the search was happening or what it might be for, nor did Trump give any indication of why federal agents were at his home – a situation that adds to the legal pressure on the ex-president.
Mr Trump and his allies sought to cast the search as a weaponisation of the criminal justice system and a Democratic-driven effort to keep him from winning another term in 2024 — even though the Biden White House said it had no prior knowledge of it.
“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,” Trump said in a statement posted on his Truth Social network.
Aerial footage of Mar-a-Lago showed police cars outside the property.
“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024,” said the former president, who was not present during the raid, according to The New York Times.
“Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries,” Trump said, adding: “They even broke into my safe!”
Though a search warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are near or even expected, federal officials looking to obtain one must first demonstrate to a judge that they have probable cause that a crime occurred.
Trump ally and Florida governor Ron DeSantis said on Twitter that the raid was “another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies” under Joe Biden.
The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) August 9, 2022
The former president’s son Eric Trump said on Fox News on Monday night that he had spent the day with his father and that the search happened because “the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession”.
Asked how the documents ended up at Mar-a-Lago, Eric Trump said the boxes were among items that got moved out of the White House during “six hours” on Inauguration Day, as the Bidens prepared to move into the building.
Multiple US media outlets cited sources close to the investigation as saying that agents were conducting a court-authorised search related to the potential mishandling of classified documents that had been sent to Mar-a-Lago.
The National Archives said in February that it had recovered 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida estate, which The Washington Post reported included highly classified texts, taken with him when he left Washington following his reelection defeat.
The documents and mementos – which also included correspondence from Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama – should by law have been turned over at the end of Trump’s presidency but instead ended up at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The recovery of the boxes raised questions about Trump’s adherence to presidential records laws enacted after the 1970s Watergate scandal that require Oval Office occupants to preserve records related to administration activity.
The Archives had requested then that the Justice Department open a probe into Trump’s practices.
‘Accountable’
White House staff also regularly discovered wads of paper clogging toilets, leading them to believe Trump was trying to get rid of certain documents, according to a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
Since taking his last Air Force One flight from Washington to Florida on 20 January last year, Trump has remained the country’s most polarising figure, continuing his unprecedented campaign to sow falsehoods that he actually won the 2020 election.
For weeks, Washington has been riveted by hearings in Congress about the January 6 storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters and his attempts to overturn the election.
The US Department of Justice is also investigating the attack.
While Attorney General Merrick Garland has declined to comment on growing speculation that Trump could face criminal charges, he has insisted that “no person is above the law” and that he intends to “hold accountable every person who is criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election.”
Trump is also being investigated for his efforts to alter the 2020 voting results in the state of Georgia, while his business practices are being probed in New York in separate cases, one civil and the other criminal.
The real estate mogul has not yet officially declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, though he has dropped strong hints over the past few months.
With President Joe Biden’s approval rating currently below 40 percent and Democrats forecast to lose control of Congress in November midterm elections, Trump is apparently bullish that he could ride the Republican wave all the way to the White House in 2024.
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Trump is very upset about the FBI raid at Mar a Lago. His entire library was destroyed. Both books are beyond repair. He hadn’t even finished colouring in one of them.
@Kilian Mycelium: and a room full of Umpa Lumpas
@Kilian Mycelium: were they cheque books?
@Kilian Mycelium: Hilarious watching the cosplay patriot groups and Trumpanzees calling to defund the police. Utter meltdown that TFG has been raided.
It was a beautiful raid, no, it really was beautiful
Happy Tuesday….made my morning..
They should have trashed the place, just like his henchmen did the Capital.
Even Nixon didn’t have his home raided.
@Ed: he had the good grace to raise his hands up and quit when he was caught. Trump will be dragged to prison kicking and screaming about his innocence blaming everyone bar himself
Absolute shame on them if this is true. Ex presidents are supposed to be protected for life by the secret service, not attacked like this by other state agencies.
@Aidy McBride: lol
@Aidy McBride: salty.
@Aidy McBride: Good one
@Aidy McBride: Trump 1
@Aidy McBride: no president is beyond the law.
@Aidy McBride: so what do you think they’re gonna get on him? Anybody? He’ll be in office again in 2024 and sleepy Joe will still be struggling to walk up stairs.
MAGA
@Aidy McBride: Aidy is fierce confused, Irish man, English crest, thinks he’s an American citizen. It’s almost like he’s the prime target of the likes of Cambridge Analytics…
@Aidy McBride: worst trolling ever. You really need to do better
@Paul Furey: 46 likes and counting on my original point, I think I’ve more support here than people think.
@Ailbhe: I was born in Baton Rouge, I grew up in Essex and Enniskillen. I now live in Carrickfergus.
@Aidy McBride: Do you genuinely believe a federal judge would have singed off on a warrant without adequate probable cause?
@Aidy McBride: 207 on the lol comment below it though…
@Dublin Rover: yes indeed, people do tend to get rewarded these days for very little
@Aidy McBride: is that Baton Rouge, Greater Manchester?
@Tricia G ☘️: it all depends who’s pulling the strings doesn’t it.
@Great White Hope: no he he didn’t
@Great White Hope: No he didn’t
@Aidy McBride:
You mean the Joe that wiped the floor with Trump during the debates… There was talk that Biden shouldn’t go that hard because it would look cruel.
Trump complained that the moderator actually corrected him.
@Aidy McBride: don’t look up!!!
@Aidy McBride: It’s cute that you’re counting your likes. But I think you’ll find there’s far more likes for the other comments expressing the opposite of your opinion. Soz
@Aidy McBride: Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha, cabbage
@dreiglaser: I knew I’d be outnumbered the minute I posted, im not as outnumbered as you’d hope tho am I?
@Aidy McBride: he wasn’t attacked, his house was searched…bit of a difference not that the tangerine turd would know.
@Aidy McBride: wasnt trump the one that had to negotiate a very slight incline arm in arm with a soldier?
@A$AP Ragnick: I have no recollection of that at all
@Paul Shepherd: have you looked at your own picture there?
@Aidy McBride: It’s not like he has done anything unethical or illegal, I mean he has never LIED
@Aidy McBride: That you Maurice ?
@Aidy McBride: actually very comfortable with how outnumbered you are. Given that this is the journal comments section and usually a far right and conspiracy theory cesspit. I think you’re the only MAGA head on the whole page even. Going very well for you LoL
@dreiglaser: I’m happy with it so far, let’s see where it is at 6 o’clock this evening.
@Aidy McBride: “who’s pulling the strings”? Are you that ignorant of the US Judicial System you believe a Federal Judge would sign off on a search warrant for a FORMER PRESIDENT without adequate cause?
And were ALL the judges that ruled against Trump’s Court cases, (many who’d been appointed by him) also having their “strings pulled”.
You say you’re American but you appear to have zero idea how these things happen.
@Aidy McBride: shame he wasn’t locked up already. Utter vile POS. How anyone still supports him is scary and vomit inducing. It’s so obviously to anyone with a brain how horrible he is and how much damage he has done. Back under your rock now. Normal people don’t want to listen to your love poems about your cult leader.
@Aidy McBride: It’ll take you a while to get grounded so.
@Aidy McBride: please move back. You have your head so far up your proverbial it is sad.
@Aidy McBride: exactly absolutely disgraceful the director of fbi needs to be called out on this
@Paul Shepherd: who are to insult the great man
@Loughlin Moore: how is the great man vile unreal how many people can’t think and believe everything from MSM
@Kevin Conway: Really? I think Trump is and always has been an opportunist, but he is being treated much differently to other former US presidents accused of wrongdoing.
Were GW Bush and Barrack Obama investigated for alleged war crimes?
Well GW Bush got a free pass for the false flag weapons of mass destruction invasion of Iraq, and Barrack Obama who increased the number of US drone strikes once he took power, was awarded the Nobel peace prize, when he allegedly authorised more drone strikes than any other President!
Also was Bill & Hillary Clinton’s house ever raided by the FBI due to allegations of financial and other wrongdoings by their Clinton Foundation?
Of it’s not the case that Trump is being treated differently, that’s strange, because it certainly looks like it…
@Martin O Donnell: how do you listen to him and not think same thing , im taking about what he actually said or wrote. Not what’s reported on him
@David Van-Standen: the raid is about the docs he took from White House. Stop spinning this
@David Van-Standen: whataboutery at its finest. Trump revoked Obamas law the meant he didn’t have to report on deaths for his Drone strikes. WHAT about that eh
@Aidy McBride: Sure, except he’s likely been breaking laws all of his life
@Aidy McBride: even exPresidents aren’t above the law. But don’t lose too much sleep over this. I’m sure Conman Don will use it to rake in more “donations” from his delusional, and unfortunately, dangerous worshippers. Get out those cheque books folks!
They are terrified of him running again.
@Irish View: Who? The American public? Yep, but he has no other way out!
@Connor: the liberal establishment.
@Irish View: Ah yes, the good old liberal establishment, always good for a bit of conspiracy theorising.
This truth is that the only people sacred of him running again are the Republican Party as they realize he is unelectable.
@Justin Gillespie: unelectable? He is currently the bookies favourite for 2024, with Ron diSantos a close second.
@Irish View: I think DeSantis is second
@Irish View: The Liberal Establishment? Lol
Is that the Supreme Court? That renowned group of Liberals? The ones who changed the meaning of the 2nd Amendment is 2008? Or told police they could pick and choose what crimes to respond to?
Or how about all the State legislatures who ignore State Supreme Court rulings and run gerrymandered maps?
This delusion about a “Liberal establishment” boogeyman when Conservatives know full well THEY’RE the Establishment.
@Irish View: they’re hoping he runs again. He’s a car wreck! Trump is so bad that the highest number of votes in history were cast for Biden. Not because people loved Biden, but because people hated Trump. Its the Democrats dream that Trump runs again.
@Irish View: How original.
@Irish View:
Don’t break the law and you won’t get raided.
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: I think republicans will get in next term whoever runs. Unless the dems have a really good candidate. Biden can’t run again surely, talk of another hillary campaign too, yikes.
@Garret Fawl: you could be right. I don’t see either Biden or Harris winning against a half decent Republican. But I don’t think DeSantos or Trump would be their best bet. There are no really good people in either party that inspire confidence.
@Irish View: The chances of that orange blob of a man running anywhere are slim to none.
@Connor: similar to ‘irish opinions’ view funnily. most likely the same sap
The FBI don’t go raiding without just cause…especially in this case.
But this is a make or break situation for him as if they don’t find anything, he’ll come out like a hero and walk the next election.
I actually fear that this may be organised by the Republicans in order to get him reelected….
Either way, he’ll be wearing a suit. I’m just not sure if it will be orange or not.
@Kevin Conway: not at all. So many of “the best people” that he employed have sung. Hope the FBI checked the loos, as that’s where he filed a lot of papers.
@Kevin Conway: also (robbed this from elsewhere)
A little legal refresher: For Mar-a-Lago to be raided, a federal judge must have signed off on a warrant. That means a federal judge believes that there was probable cause to believe that a crime was committed there and that evidence of a crime exists there.
Golf, a hole different ball game in prison Don
@Sean Nihill: you win….
@Sean Nihill: Whole new meaning to a hole in one…
Terribly biased article. How about an article on Hunter Biden’s laptop and Ukraine ‘business’ dealings?
@John Fahy: Since when did Hunter Biden get elected President. And Kushner has done a deal with the Arabs which netted him 2 billion dollars.
@John Fahy: Ah the old “Hunter Biden laptop” deflection. Ok, who had guessed ten past twelve?
We would of also accepted Hilary’s emails
@Lita Campbell: Ah the old “Hunter Biden laptop” deflection. Ok, who had guessed ten past twelve?
We would of also accepted Hilary’s emails
@John Fahy: Why would anyone want to write an article about Hunter Biden’s laptop? Like what would the actual relevancy be? I know the maga clowns like to shout about it all the time, but do any of ye have a single notion about what’s supposed to be on it? I’d say Don Jr’s search history would be interesting reading though…..
@John Fahy: oh you mean the line Bannon spun to help the cause. Good one. Dope.
@John Fahy: your trolling is worse than that baton rouge man u troll.
Not every day something like this happens. The i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed on this FBI outing for sure.
MAGA
@Aidy McBride: “MaGa” https://youtu.be/3nzuuV_dL_g serious brain power at work in the MAGA camp
@Aidy McBride: Do you actually know why you say that? It probably makes you feel part of a bigger movement and part of your identity, right? The reality is that his election team needed to connect with the uneducated, they are unable to understand long sentences or complex ideas, therefore four words or less. You may not understand this message either.
@Maximus_Demonus: he’s clearly trolling, albeit badly. Ignore him.
@Aidy McBride: grow up. The world only stopped laughing at you when he left office.
@Maximus_Demonus: ‘THIRD WORLD’ is the go to catchphrase for this event, as if a legally executed search warrant based on actual evidence is the behaviour of some tyrannical despot.
LOCK HIM UP !
The journal moderators still going around deleting peoples comments, I said absolutely nothing that goes against your rules,
This is not the first time
Why leave comments open if you don’t want a comment??
@Alan Richard Scott Jr.: The Journal doesn’t delete your comments. Someone reports comments they don’t like and it gets deleted. I doubt there is really a person reviewing reported comments.
Usually reported by those that don’t like being called out so they try and get those that disagree removed.
@Tricia G ☘️: they definitely delete comments without a complaint being raised. I’ve had a couple of interactions with the moderators over the years.
@Tricia G ☘️: what did I just read?
Your telling me the moderators delete comments because someone disliked my anti trump comment???
where in the terms and conditions of using the journal does it take people may take offence to your comment because they disagree with you deleted??
do you know what a moderator is??
From your comment most likely not.
@Tricia G ☘️: and there is moderators here, paid or volunteer I don’t know, some of them allow their own personal opinions judge what is acceptable and what isn’t.
I said absolutely nothing wrong in this case,
In some cases I may have went overboard (because of the sheer stupidity of some people commenting) but I said nothing wrong.
Not a big deal as such but still,
people will start to leave if peoples comments (that are clean)
Trump had to learn the hard way…..you don’t mess with the Feds.
He’s a very dangerous man. The lies that come out of his mouth on a regular basis are designed to cause division and hatred in Ametica.
I can’t for the life of understand how people can believe him.
The Funky Gibbon deserves everything coming to him EVERYTHING
Ah the old “Hunter Biden laptop” deflection. Ok, who had guessed ten past twelve?
We would of also accepted Hilary’s emails
People are laughing and enjoying their pound of flesh, but anyone with any common sense would realise just how dangerous it is to go after Trump like this, however you may feel about him he still maintains a very serious, fanatical and highly armed support base, including the army, this is not good.
@Thomas Byrne: you speak a lot of sense but doing nothing and allowing him to trample on the law of the land, like his fanatics did on Jan 6, would be worse. Since Trump raised his ugly orange mug civil war/coup de etats have been a possibility. It is up to the Republican Party to grow a pair and stop it. But they won’t!
Good.
Great to see the orange one of another hissy fit. Will be even better to see him behind bars. All those MAGA dopes don’t have a brain cell between them
I wish someone would take 15 boxes of papers out of my house , I have an extensive archive of old receipts ,brochures ,catalogues , leaflets ,handouts etc etc
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