After that, there was another exchange between investigators and Trump’s lawyers, he said. Officials eventually suspected that Trump or his team were still guarding important documents, the Washington Post wrote, citing anonymous sources. The FBI is said to have taken twelve boxes during the search. According to CNN, the former president’s security personnel, the Secret Service, were briefed on the operation about an hour before the search. The Secret Service eventually granted access, but did not actively assist in the search for the documents. Trump was not on his property during the action.
“No better than a banana republic”
On Tuesday, he continued talking about research on the network he co-founded, Truth Social. “A terrible thing happened yesterday in Mar-a-Lago. We are no better than a third world country, a banana republic,” he wrote. He also accused US President Joe Biden of having been informed of the action in advance. The White House has rejected such claims. “The president was not informed and knew nothing about it. … No one in the White House was notified,” said Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. She declined to comment on the investigation.
At the same time, powerful Republicans supported Trump. “Our cities are full of criminals, but Garland’s politicized Justice Department is targeting President Trump and members of Congress,” he said. House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, addressed to Secretary of Justice Merrick Garland. Influential Republican Mitch McConnell, whom Trump himself repeatedly denigrates as an “old crow”, demanded that the Justice Department investigate the events immediately. The first made a similar statement US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.