The FBI has raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the former president has announced.
A senior US official said the FBI was present at the Palm Beach, Florida property “most of the day”.
It comes as the Justice Department investigates the discovery of boxes of documents containing classified information that were brought to Mar-a-Lago after the end of Mr Trump’s presidency.
Meanwhile, a separate investigation related to efforts by Mr. Trump’s allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol has also intensified in Washington.
It was Mr Trump who originally published the details of the operation.
“These are dark times for our nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently besieged, raided and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” he said. said in a statement.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor appropriate.
“This is prosecutorial misconduct, the militarization of the justice system, and an attack by hard-left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for president in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and will also do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming midterm elections.”
However, the government official denied Mr Trump’s version of events, saying the use of the word ‘raid’ is not appropriate in this context, noting that they are ‘not kicking down doors here’.
It was described as an orderly execution of a search warrant.
