Everything we know so far about the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid
What's in the box?
There are a lot of opinions about Monday's FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, and a little bit of confirmation from Trump's lawyers about what the FBI agents were looking for. But few people know what prompted the high-stakes search or the severity of Trump's potential legal jeopardy.
The FBI and Justice Department are staying mum about their raid, as required during active investigations, but "they are not the only ones in possession of relevant information," Politico's Kyle Cheney writes. In fact, "Trump is in perhaps the best position to reveal more details about what transpired on Monday."
"The former president has access to the full inventory of items that federal investigators were seeking as well as what was taken from his estate during the search," Politico reports. "He or his lawyers were almost certainly presented with a copy of the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago — though not the underlying affidavit or other supplemental materials." CNN's Elie Honig has more details.
Subscribe to 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.
Trump is the one who publicly disclosed the FBI raid, and his lawyer Christina Bobb, who was at Mar-a-Lago during Monday's search, told Real America's Voice on Tuesday that investigators said they were "looking for classified information that they think should not have been removed from the White House, as well as presidential records."
"Sooner or later, the Justice Department and Mr. Trump will have to clarify the substance of what has happened," Federation of American Scientists open-records advocate Steven Aftergood told Politico. "Then we will know, was there a real violation of the law or was this some kind of speculative adventure. As far as I can tell, the FBI is not prone to the kind of — to what members of Congress have called a banana republic–like invasion. That doesn't happen, especially with a court order."
In lieu of explaining why the FBI took the risky step of executing a search warrant at his property, Trump is fund-raising off the raid and, one adviser told The Washington Post, he "sounded buoyed by the development, bragging about how many Republicans were supporting him publicly" and arguing "the search would help him politically in the end." The court of public opinion may eventually have enough facts to render a verdict, but in the court of law, the Post says, Trump's legal team is seeking recommendations for a really good criminal defense lawyer.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
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.
-
Mary Poppins tour: 'humdinger' of a show kicks off at Bristol Hippodrome
The Week Recommends Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers are 'true triple threats' as Mary and Bert in 'timeless' production
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Jaguar's stalled rebrand
In the spotlight Critics and car lovers are baffled by the luxury car company's 'complete reset'
By Abby Wilson Published
-
What the chancellor's pension megafund plans mean for your money
Rachel Reeves wants pension schemes to merge and back UK infrastructure – but is it putting your money at risk?
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What message is Trump sending with his Cabinet picks?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION By nominating high-profile loyalists like Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., is Trump serious about creating a functioning Cabinet, or does he have a different plan in mind?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The clown car Cabinet
Opinion Even 'Little Marco' towers above his fellow nominees
By Mark Gimein Published
-
What Mike Huckabee means for US-Israel relations
In the Spotlight Some observers are worried that the conservative evangelical minister could be a destabilizing influence on an already volatile region
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The Pentagon faces an uncertain future with Trump
Talking Point The president-elect has nominated conservative commentator Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'All Tyson-Paul promised was spectacle and, in the end, that's all we got'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published