Former President Donald Trump said Monday that Mar-a-Lago, the Florida club that is his primary residence, “is currently under siege, attacked and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” Sources tell CBS News that the search is related to a Justice Department investigation into claims by the National Archives that it found 15 boxes of records, including classified material, at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.
The FBI took boxes and documents from Mar-a-Lago, and no electronics appeared to be taken, according to two sources — one U.S. law enforcement official familiar with some of the search warrant activity and a source close to Trump. Some – if not all – of the documents are potentially classified records.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before,” Trump said in a statement. “After working and cooperating with the appropriate government agencies, this unannounced attack on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate.”
Trump said, “they even broke into my safe!” A source close to Trump confirmed to CBS News that the former president was not at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, and two senior Trump sources said it does not appear that Trump is headed to Florida.
In an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump’s son Eric said that “without warning” “20 cars and 30 agents” descended on Mar-a-Lago. He also confirmed that the FBI conducted the search because “the National Archives wanted to confirm whether Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”
He said of the Biden administration: “They are threatened by Donald J. Trump and frankly, I hope — and I’m saying this for the first time — I hope he goes out and beats these guys again, because frankly, this country I can’t live with this crap.”
In February, the National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of the White House archives. The National Archives said some of the documents Trump turned over to them were ripped out and taped back.
On Monday, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman released photos from her upcoming book that appear to show at least two instances of Trump attempting to flush documents down the toilet.
Under the Presidential Records Act, documents received and sent by the president must be kept by the office.
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, November 22, 2018. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment.
In his statement, Trump called the attack “an attack by radical left-wing Democrats who are desperate not to run for president in 2024.”
A senior Trump source said it was “expressly political.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted a statement Monday night saying that if Republicans take back the House in November, “we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts and leave no stone unturned.” . He warned: “Attorney General Garland: save your papers and clear your calendar.”
Trump spoke over the weekend at the CPAC convention in Dallas, where he repeated the false claim that he had won the 2020 election and said “now we might have to do it again,” hinting at an election in 2024. He has been active in holding rallies for his endorsed candidates in the 2022 midterm primaries.
At the end of his statement on Monday, Trump called for donations to his Save America PAC.
A senior White House official tells CBS News that the West Wing received no advance warning about the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Florida home.
“There is no prior knowledge — some (in the White House) learned from old media, some from social media,” said the senior official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The Biden White House has gone to great lengths to limit the president’s and senior officials’ interactions with senior Justice Department officials to avoid any hint of political pressure or impropriety.
There are few investigations known to be underway against the former president, though a civil investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James into the Trump Organization and an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia into whether Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 election , probably will not require the involvement of federal authorities.
After the House committee’s hit public hearings on Jan. 6 this summer, the Justice Department opened an investigation into a scheme by Trump allies to appoint fake voters in seven battleground states that President Biden won.
Arden Farhi, Jeff Pegues, Andres Triay, Ed O’Keefe, Fin Gómez and Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.
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