Donald Trump Says Mar-a-Lago Was Raided by ‘A Large Group of FBI Agents’

Trump got the scoop, putting out a lengthy statement before anyone confirmed a raid

Donald Trump
DALLAS, TEXAS – AUGUST 06: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Hilton Anatole on August 06, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. CPAC began in 1974, and is a conference that brings together and hosts conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders in discussing current events and future political agendas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is no fan of reporters, but his Monday scoop was a doozy: The former President says “a large group of FBI agents” descended on his Mar-A-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday in an “unannounced raid” that included cracking open a safe.

“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a written statement posted to his Truth Social platform. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”

Though Trump was the only source of the news for well over an hour, the Associated Press later confirmed that a raid had taken place, citing a person familiar with the matter. The person said the raid was related to whether Trump had taken any classified information from the White House, part of an investigation that’s been ongoing since National Archives workers discovered classified documents in boxes at Trump’s resort home in Florida.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted a screenshot of Trump’s full statement:

The FBI did not immediately return messages seeking confirmation from TheWrap.

Neither the FBI nor the larger Department of Justice immediately put out any kind of statement regarding a raid at Mar-a-Lago. Late last month, the DOJ said it had opened a criminal investigation into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, but no connection between that investigation and the raid had been established.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – APRIL 03: President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Instead, according to the AP, the DOJ has been investigating classified records found at Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives and Records Administration, which referred the matter to the Justice Department upon the discovery. Removing classified documents is a felony – though Trump could argue that he had the authority to declassify the documents as president.

That the raid was tied to a smaller matter could explain why Trump chose to put it on blast, using the action as a political cudgel.

“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, an attack by Radical Left Democrats who don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls,” Trump said. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World countries.”

He also hinted that he had been “working with relevant government agencies” on the matter, suggesting that the purpose of the raid was known to him.

Ross Lincoln contributed to this report …

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