Former US President Donald Trump says his home in Florida was raided by the FBI and officers broke into a safe.
Mr. Trump said in a statement that Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was “occupied by a large group of FBI agents”.
Monday’s search was reportedly linked to an investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of official documents.
“These are dark times for our nation,” Trump’s statement said. “Something like this has never happened to a President of the United States.
Neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nor the Justice Department has commented on the reported search.
An unnamed law enforcement official told Newsmen, that the Secret Service was informed shortly before the warrant was to be served around 10:00 a.m. local time (1400 GMT) and that agents protecting Mr. Trump had assisted FBI investigators.
Several boxes were taken, the source said, adding that no doors were broken down and the raid was over by late afternoon.
A federal search warrant must be signed by a judge. While such a warrant does not indicate that criminal prosecution should be expected, law enforcement must first demonstrate the possibility of finding evidence of illegality.
There has never been a search warrant like this in American history, Palm Beach County prosecutor Dave said. He described it as “a big deal”.
US presidents are required under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) to submit all their letters, working papers, and emails to the National Archives (NA).
In addition, there are other federal laws regarding the handling of classified information.
In February, the National Archives said it had recovered 15 boxes of Mar-a Lago papers that Mr. Trump should have turned over when he left the White House.
The agency later told Congress that the boxes contained “items marked as classified national security information.” Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb said that some documents were seized during the search.
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Trump’s dramatic escalation of law enforcement oversight comes as the Republican prepares for a possible further presidential race in 2024.
News of the research mobilized numerous supporters of Donald Trump. A group of fans gathered outside Mar-a-Lago to wave flags and express their anger.
House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, “I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of armed politicization.”
Meanwhile, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, tweeted: “The use of government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen repeatedly from Third World Marxist dictatorships.”.
Mr. Trump said he had cooperated with all relevant government agencies and therefore “the unannounced raid on my house was neither necessary nor appropriate”.
He said it would be “prosecution misconduct” and “arming the justice system” to prevent him from running for the White House again.
“Such an attack could only happen in broken Third World countries,” he said. “Unfortunately, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt on an unprecedented level. “They even broke into my safe!”
The former president was in Trump Tower in New York at the time of the reported raid.
