Former President Donald Trump said in a statement on Monday evening that the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump said Mar-a-Lago "is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate."
Trump went on to claim that this "is prosecutorial misconduct" and "the weaponization of the justice system," adding that "such an assault could only take place in broken, Third World countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe!" NBC News reports that Trump is in New York City, and has spent the summer at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
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Dave Aronberg, the Palm Beach County state attorney, told MSNBC's Jason Johnson that his office was not involved in the search, which was "kept close to the vest" by the FBI. Aronberg said he thinks Trump "will believe that this is crossing a red line. This is his inner sanctum. To get this raid of his place, there had to be a warrant signed off by a judge. There needs to be probable cause. There needs to be a belief that there's evidence there that could lead to a crime. It can't be a fishing expedition. So this is definitely serious stuff."
It's not known at this time "what crime are they pursuing and who are they pursuing," Aronberg continued, but "I do not believe they are searching Mar-a-Lago to build a case against someone else who lived there or a guest of the place. That is Donald Trump's home and I think it shows further evidence that the Department of Justice is indeed looking at Donald Trump himself."
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