Everything we know so far about the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid
What's in the box?
More than a dozen FBI agents executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and residence Monday as part of the Justice Department's investigation into whether Trump broke any laws when he improperly took at least 15 boxes of material to Florida when he left office, people familiar with the raid told multiple news organizations. Eric Trump told Fox News on Monday evening that "the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession."
Some of the material recovered from Mar-a-Lago in February contained highly classified national security information, the National Archives said at the time. "The law governing the preservation of White House materials, the Presidential Records Act, lacks teeth, but criminal statutes can come into play, especially in the case of classified material," The New York Times reports. "Officials can face up to five years in prison for removing classified materials to an unauthorized location," The Wall Street Journal adds.
Technically, a conviction on charges of removing, concealing, or destroying government records would also disqualify Trump from holding federal office again, the Times reports, though legal experts said enforcing that clause would require litigation.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mar-a-Lago was closed and Trump was in New York City during the raid. He has spent much of the the summer at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, "preparing for a deposition with the New York attorney general in a civil matter related to his finances," the Times reports. Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, who was present during the search, said FBI agents "seized paper."
"Searching a former president's property to look for possible evidence of a crime is highly unusual and would require approval at the top levels of the Justice Department," as well as sign-off from a federal magistrate, The Washington Post says. White House officials said President Biden and his aides learned of the raid from news reports.
"There has been nothing like this in recent decades," John Q. Barrett, a law professor at St. John's University in New York, tells the Journal. "No person is above the law, and we have many Supreme Court decisions about occupants of high office not being above the law, but when someone is out of office, he's just a person like everyone else, living in his home and subject to obeying the law."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Critics’ choice: Watering holes for gourmandsFeature An endless selection of Mexican spirits, a Dublin-inspired bar, and an upscale Baltimore pub
-
Argentinian beef is at the center of American farmers’ woesThe Explainer ‘It feels like a slap in the face to rural America,’ said one farmer
-
‘Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What does history say about Trump’s moves in Latin America?Today's Big Question ‘Bitter memories’ surface as the US targets Venezuela
-
Is the ceasefire in Gaza really working?Today's Big Question Neither Israel and Hamas has an interest in a full return to hostilities but ‘brutally simple arithmetic’ in region may scupper peace plan long-term
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Push for Ukraine ceasefire collapsesFeature Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were called off after the Russian president refused to compromise on his demands
-
Trump eyes regime change in VenezuelaFeature Officials believe Trump’s ‘war on narco-terrorism’ is actually a push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
