Trump Condemns FBI Raid As Political Witch-Hunt
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who may seek re-election, has condemned the search of his Florida estate by America’s principal law enforcement agency as a political witch-hunt.
Trump spoke Tuesday in text messages and emails soliciting political donations shortly after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The search marked a significant escalation of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House while leaving office in January 2021.
Trump continues to flirt publicly with running again for president in 2024 but has not said clearly whether he will do so.
The warrant was reportedly related to the National Archives and Records Administration, which is charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the public.
Authorities are also checking whether there were classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, said sources familiar with the situation.
The FBI reportedly took about 10 boxes of papers but noted that a safe that was searched was empty. “They are trying to stop the Republican Party and me once more,” Trump said in a fundraising email on Tuesday. “The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt, must be exposed and stopped.”
WHITE HOUSE REACTS
A White House official said Biden was not given advance notice of the search. “This search warrant, in my estimation, probably underwent more withering scrutiny than any search warrant in the history of the Department of Justice,” said David Laufman, a former Justice Department official who oversaw prosecutions of national security offenses.
But Trump fans agree and support his Save America political action committee that he launched after officially losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Trump, who maintains the vote wasn’t fair, has so far raised more than $100 million for his efforts, records show.
Tuesday’s standoff came as the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol didn’t get much help from two key allies of Trump.
The committee hoped to get details from Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state under Trump, about the ex-president’s state of mind during the events and his fitness for office.
Investigators also wanted answers about discussions that reportedly had taken place between Pompeo and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary at the time.
They allegedly discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after the Capitol riot, though Pompeo denied the exchange.
POMPEO ‘EVASIVE’
The New York Times newspaper cited a person familiar with the interview as saying that “was evasive” in response to the committee’s questioning. Pompeo did not respond to requests for comment.
However, he posted messages on social media of Trump recently, including one saying: “If they will go after a former President, they will go after you.”
The committee also attempted Tuesday to question Douglas V. Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, who considered trying to keep Trump in power by using “fake” electors.
He reportedly abruptly ended his interview after he objected to the panel’s rules about video recording. A lawyer for Mastriano, now a state senator, said his client believed the committee would selectively edit his testimony.
He planned to insist on making his video recording of the interview.
But the committee reportedly rejected that demand as they did with other witnesses, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.
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