Washington: Former US President Donald Trump demanded that the Department of Justice (DoJ) release all documents seized by the FBI since the raid on his Florida residence as he alleged it could be planted evidence, even as a former Secret Service special agent claimed the raid on a former non-sitting commander in chief was “unprecedented”.
Trump took to his social website Truth Social to claim that the FBI could have planted evidence during the raid earlier this week on his Mar-a-Lago residence, without however backing up his claim with any shred of evidence.
His accusation came on the back of what some sources told The Washington Post last Thursday that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents were looking for in Florida.
“Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved,” Trump said in his website as quoted by the Fox News, known to be partisan to the ex-President.
“Why wouldn’t the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyers, or others, present. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn’t let them get even close – said ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’. Planting information anyone?” he asked.
Trump on Thursday said his team was “cooperating fully” in the Justice Department’s investigation into his alleged improper handling of classified records when he left office, stressing that the FBI’s raid at Mar-a-Lago was “out of nowhere and with no warning.”
His post came moments after Attorney General Merrick Garland made a rare public statement from the DOJ, announcing that he personally approved the warrant to search the former President’s private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, to search for classified materials he allegedly took with him from the White House when he left office.
“My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established,” Trump posted. “The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.”
The FBI’s decision to execute a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday is “unprecedented” � especially for a non-sitting commander-in-chief and one who has indicated he might run again, a former special-agent-in-charge told Fox News Digital.
Representative Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed the Department of Justice for “blatant politicisation” after the Attorney General said he approved the Trump raid. Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee held a news conference on the Trump FBI raid.
After a federal judge gave the Justice Department a deadline to determine whether the former President supports or opposes unsealing the search warrant and property receipt used by the FBI to search his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday, Trump said he heartily supports the move. “Release the documents now!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social, just hours after the judge’s decision was announced.
In a pair of posts, Trump called the raid on his Florida estate “un-American, unwarranted, and unnecessary” and said he approved of the “immediate release” of the warrant.
Republican Senators James Lankford and Rick Scott are demanding that the Senate be briefed by the FBI, Department of Justice and National Archives regarding the “unprecedented” raid on Trump.
Trump raid changed how Americans see America, claimed Fox News digital, as Lara Trump blasted the FBI raid, saying Garland’s presser raised more questions on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’
Trump’s attorney Christina Bobb blasted Garland’s address on the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago on “The Ingraham Angle”, while Fox News host Brian Kilmeade voiced his concerns about the FBI’s raid, the Attorney General’s role and its implications on “Tucker Carlson Tonight”.
FBI Director Chris Wray retorted, saying “unfounded attacks” on the agency “erode respect for rule of law”.
“Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman scorched Trump supporters in a Thursday op-ed for seeing the former President’s struggles as symbolic for their own. Titled “Why Trump has to sell a fantasy of collective persecution”, his piece claimed that Republicans are using cynical victim narratives to rally their base: “Right now, with investigations potentially closing in on Trump from multiple directions, they’ve homed in on a vital message: This isn’t about Trump. It’s about you.”
(IANS)
