Closing summary
We are pausing our live coverage after an extraordinary night in US politics. Here is a comprehensive summary of how events unfolded following the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
- Former US President Donald Trump claimed FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday and broke into his safe, adding that his estate “is currently under siege, raided, and occupied.”
- The FBI executed a search warrant around 6pm ET which appears to have been related to an investigation into Trump unlawfully taking White House classified documents with him to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency.
- The search appeared to concern boxes of classified documents that Trump brought with him from the White House to the Florida club, the New York Times reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the investigation.
- Trump released a lengthy statement following the search, comparing the FBI raid to “Watergate” and blaming it on “Radical Left Democrats”. “After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate ... They even broke into my safe!” he said.
- Trump was not at the estate at the time of the raid and was in the New York area, according to multiple reports.
- The White House said it had no advance information of the FBI’s search. Justice Department officials declined to comment on any element of the search, including whether it informed the White House ahead of time, whether attorney general Merrick Garland approved the court-approved search warrant - or even if he was briefed on the raid. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he didn’t know any more details other than what he read in the news.
- The FBI obtained a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago because they were able to establish probable cause - to a federal magistrate judge in West Palm Beach, according to a source familiar with the matter - that Trump was unlawfully holding official White House records at his residence in Florida. The probable cause, in this case, was likely that the records were being kept at Mar-a-Lago. The very presence of government records at the resort is the potential crime, according to top former FBI officials who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity.
- Former acting US Solicitor General said today’s search makes it likely that Trump is the target of a criminal investigation by the justice department and said his lawyer should be advising him about possible jail time.
- Journalists at the scene in Palm Beach reported that a crowd of supporters gathered outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home holding flags late Monday evening in Florida. NCB News reporter, Cristian Benavides, posted a series of videos of supporters at the scene. “The crowd near Mar-A-Lago continues to grow into the night following that search warrant earlier today,” he said.
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Republicans responded furiously to the development, following Trump’s lead in claiming that the search showed the justice department waging a politically motivated witch-hunt. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said the raid was evidence of “weaponized politicization” at the justice department.
- The Justice Department has been quietly examining the prospect of opening a criminal investigation into the matter of Trump’s removal of documents since at least April, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiry. In January, as the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) prepared to transfer records from the Trump White House to the House select committee investigating January 6, it found around 15 boxes worth of materials had been improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago.
- Trump previously came under scrutiny for his flagrant violations of the Presidential Records Act — but the raid, for the first time, appears to mark potential legal jeopardy for Trump over his records-keeping.
- The chairperson of the House Oversight Committee, which is leading the congressional investigation into mishandled documents, released a statement saying: “Presidents have a solemn duty to protect America’s national security, and allegations that former President Trump put our security at risk by mishandling classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny.”
Updated
Republicans weaponise Mar-a-Lago FBI search
A bitterly polarised reaction to an FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday threatened to enflame America’s political divisions.
Republicans responded furiously to the development, following Trump’s lead in claiming that the search showed the justice department waging a politically motivated witch-hunt. Their florid rhetoric will do little to assuage fears that a prosecution of Trump could lead to social unrest and even political violence.
The Republican response on Monday drew from a familiar playbook: Trump has long maintained that the Russia investigation, for example, was a “hoax” and part of a “deep state” conspiracy against him. Scrutiny of his removal of presidential records, or his role in the January 6 insurrection, is likely to produce a similar backlash.
Read the full report from the Guardian’s Washington correspondent, David Smith, below.
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss has described Monday’s events as something that has never happened before in American history.
Appearing on MSNBC’s the Last Word late on Monday night, Beschloss urged viewers to pause for a second “to look at how weird and horrible this is.”
There has never before in history been a need to pump an American President’s stomach for torn-up documents.
The law requires presidential documents of all kinds to be preserved. Legally they can’t be destroyed just because a president feels like it. Nor can he take them away and sell them for cash. Nor can he give them to a foreign government he likes.
Presidential Records Act of 1978 was passed in response to Nixon’s effort to take his Presidential tapes and papers with him to California, where they were in danger of being destroyed.
If he illegally took national security-classified documents and hid them in his Florida mansion (and especially if he shared them with outsiders), he may have been putting all of our lives and those of our families in danger.”
Trump allies react to raid with fury, promise consequences for DOJ
Another update from our reporter, Hugo Lowell, who has provided a summary of the reaction from Trump’s allies.
Some of Donald Trump’s closest allies reacted with fury to the news of the FBI searching Mar-a-Lago, vowing swift political retaliation should Republicans take control of the House after the 2022 midterm elections or the White House after the 2024 presidential election.
The House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who is poised to become the House Speaker in the event of Republicans retaking the House majority, said in a statement posted on Twitter that the raid was evidence of politicization at the justice department.
The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization. When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned,” McCarthy said.
Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
The statement was greeted with some mockery in Washington on Monday night, with a number of former justice department officials and congressional aides noting that the attorney general already testifies before Congress every year as part of regular oversight hearings. But McCarthy’s position represented a wider outrage among Trump-allied conservatives, including top Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who denounced the FBI as the ‘deep state’ - even though the warrant was court-approved and the current FBI Director Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump.
They’re absolutely petrified that Trump’s going to announce [that he will run for the presidency in 2024] in the next couple of weeks, win the Republican nomination, win the White House,” Bannon said on Fox News.
The FBI right now is the Gestapo ... We’re going to have to fight fire with fire. The way to do it is to win elections, win them overwhelmingly and use the appropriations process to choke down the FBI and choke down the Justice Department and get to the bottom of who approved this. This is so outrageous. It needs to be investigated.”
Former acting US Solicitor General has said today’s search makes it likely that the former president is the target of a criminal investigation by the justice department and said his lawyer should be advising Trump about possible jail time.
In an interview with MSNBC’s the Last Word, Neal Katyal said Trump’s attorneys should be advising him to tell his family, “I am looking at jail time.”
Following the search on Trump’s home, Katyal said the events “make it likely that the former president is the target of a criminal investigation by the justice department”.
After the FBI searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, @neal_katyal tells @Lawrence that Trump's attorneys should be advising him to tell his family, "I am looking at jail time."#LastWord pic.twitter.com/kIrJHfiSNo
— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) August 9, 2022
Updated
Allegations that former president Donald Trump improperly handled confidential White House documents have come under the spotlight in recent months.
Claims that Trump periodically blocked up White House and other drains with wads of paper appear to be borne out in photographs leaked ahead of the publication of a new account of the 45th presidency.
On Monday, Axios published photos of folded-up paper, marked with Trump’s telltale handwriting, using his favored pen, a Sharpie, submerged at the bottom of various toilet bowls.
The photographs were released in advance of the publication of Confidence Man, a book by the Trump White House correspondent for the New York Times, Maggie Haberman, set for October.
Trump, described by Axios as “a notorious destroyer of Oval Office documents”, was the alleged flusher. But photographs of presidential White House toilet document dumps are possible evidence of a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
According to Haberman, the disposals occurred multiple times at the White House, and on at least two foreign trips. Most words are illegible, but one name that is clearly visible is that of the New York Republican congresswoman and potential 2024 running mate Elise Stefanik.
NEW IN AXIOS: Trump denied flushing documents as president, as I learned during reporting last year for CONFIDENCE MAN. A Trump White House source recently provided PHOTOS of paper with Trump’s handwriting in two different toilets via @mikeallen https://t.co/wv6rrupO1n
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 8, 2022
“That Mr Trump was discarding documents this way was not widely known within the West Wing, but some aides were aware of the habit, which he engaged in repeatedly,” Haberman writes, according to the outlet.
“It was an extension of Trump’s term-long habit of ripping up documents that were supposed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act.”
Updated
The 15 boxes returned to the National Archives earlier this year reportedly contained presidential records including “love letters” from Kim Jong-un, mementos, gifts and other letters and correspondence from world leaders.
The Washington Post reported at the time that advisers to the former president denied any nefarious intent and said the boxes contained mementos, gifts, letters from world leaders and other correspondence.
The items included correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which Trump once described as ‘love letters’, as well as a letter left for his successor by Barack Obama, the Post reported.
Some of the presidential records recovered from Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago are so sensitive they may not be able to be described in forthcoming inventory reports in an unclassified way, two people familiar with the matter told the publication.
There are records at the very highest levels of classification, including some that can be viewed by only a small number of government officials, the sources added.
“There are records that only a very few have clearances” to review, one of the people told The Post.
Updated
FBI showed judge new probable cause of violation of federal law, prompting warrant
We have another significant update from The Guardian’s Congressional reporter, Hugo Lowell.
The FBI reportedly showed to a judge that there was new probable cause of a violation of federal law over Trump’s handling of White House documents, possibly prompting Monday’s search.
The FBI obtained a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago because they were able to establish probable cause - to a federal magistrate judge in West Palm Beach, according to a source familiar with the matter - that Trump was unlawfully holding official White House records at his residence in Florida.
The probable cause, in this case, was likely that the records were being kept at Mar-a-Lago. The very presence of government records at the resort is the potential crime, according to top former FBI officials who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity.
The FBI affidavit that accompanied the search warrant would have likely attested to new information obtained by federal investigators that showed White House records - in addition to the 15 boxes returned to the National Archives earlier this year - remained at Mar-a-Lago.
Although recent focus on the White House records at Mar-a-Lago has been on whether they were classified, the FBI would have likely been able to obtain the search warrant even if they were properly declassified (which is not clear) - since federal law requires even declassified records to be returned to the National Archives.
The White House has also said it had no advance information of the FBI’s search.
A senior White House official, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter, told CBS News:
No advance knowledge — some [in the White House] learned from old media, some from social media.”
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has also declined to comment on the earlier search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, saying he doesn’t know any more details other than what he’s read in the news.
Well I know nothing about it other than what I’ve read like everybody else, so I think it’s wise for me to withhold comment until we learn more,” he told MSNBC.
“Look, I think none of us know the facts and any comments are premature,” he added.
DOJ declines to confirm or deny existence of investigation
The Guardian’s Congressional reporter, Hugo Lowell, has this recent update from law enforcement officials this evening.
Justice Department officials are declining to comment on any element of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, including whether it informed the White House ahead of time, whether attorney general Merrick Garland approved the court-approved search warrant - or even if he was briefed on the raid.
This seems to be more of an indication than anything that the justice department is very concerned about appearing political.
The justice department is not supposed to get involved in politics, so it’s not surprising that it declined to comment on a high-profile raid of a former president’s home.
Journalists at the scene in Palm Beach are reporting that the crowd of supporters gathered outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home are growing as the time approaches midnight in Florida.
NCB News reporter, Cristian Benavides, posted a series of videos of supporters at the scene.
“The crowd near Mar-A-Lago continues to grow into the night following that search warrant earlier today,” he said.
The crowd near Mar-A-Lago continues to grow into the night following that search warrant earlier today @nbc6 @NBCNewsNow pic.twitter.com/FQqppzeXYQ
— Cristian Benavides (@cbenavidesTV) August 9, 2022
Mar-a-Lago: Trump's 'winter White House'
Mar-a-Lago, a sprawling complex in Florida, has been described as a “the winter White House” during the Trump presidency, a place from which the country’s leader would variously entertain heads of state and order US missile attacks.
The private club – situated on an eight-hectare estate that is now the focus of an FBI search warrant – attracted annual membership fees of $200,000 and became symbolic of Donald Trump’s time in office, blurring the ethical lines between his own business empire and his presidential duties.
The centrepiece of the estate, which Trump bought in 1985, is a 126-room mansion complete with expansive verandas and surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns. It was built in 1927 for a cereal heiress and socialite, Marjorie Merriweather Post, who willed it to the US government in 1973. However, neither Richard Nixon or Jimmy Carter used it and it was returned to private ownership in 1981.
During his presidency, Trump became renowned for spending significant time at his properties, with his Mar-a-Lago home the most frequented. A Washington Post tally reported he was there for all or part of 142 days of his presidency, over 32 visits.
Read the full report below:
Trump supporters have gathered at Mar-a-Lago for an impromptu support “rally” on Monday evening.
Some stood outside the former US President’s residence holding flags while media watched on.
Police vehicles were also seen on South Ocean Blvd while others guarded the entrance to the property.
Updated
Here is a little more context on the search from the Guardian’s Congressional reporter, Hugo Lowell.
The Justice Department has been quietly examining the prospect of opening a criminal investigation into the matter of Trump’s removal of documents since at least April, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiry.
In January, as the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) prepared to transfer records from the Trump White House to the House select committee investigating January 6, it found around 15 boxes worth of materials had been improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago.
The records were eventually returned to Nara after negotiations with Trump’s lawyers – only for officials to then discover that the former president had taken with him some documents clearly marked as classified and sensitive for national security.
“Because Nara identified classified information in the boxes,” the chief archivist David Ferriero said in a letter to Congress at the time, “Nara staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”
The saga also prompted the House oversight committee, led by congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, to open a separate investigation that noted “removing or concealing government records is a criminal offense”. Trump must be held accountable, the New York Democrat said.
Updated
The New York Times and the Associated Press are reporting that the news that the FBI had searched Mar-a-Lago appeared to have been first reported by Peter Schorsch, the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, on Monday.
Schorsch runs the politics website which identifies itself as a new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy and lobbying in Florida.
In a tweet reporting the search, Schorsch said he wasn’t certain why the FBI had obtained a search warrant.
“TBH, Im not a strong enough reporter to hunt this down, but it’s real,” he wrote.
Scoop — The Federal Bureau of Investigation @FBI today executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, two sources confirm to @Fla_Pol.
— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) August 8, 2022
"They just left," one source said.
Not sure what the search warrant was about.
TBH, Im not a strong enough reporter to hunt this down, but its real. pic.twitter.com/hMsGhlVp3d
Updated
What lawsuits and investigations is Trump facing?
Trump is facing investigations and lawsuits on a number of fronts. Here’s a recap of a few notable cases.
Missing national records
The US National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) in February notified Congress that it had recovered about 15 boxes of White House documents from Trump’s Florida home, some of which contained classified materials.
The US House of Representatives Oversight Committee at that time said it was expanding an investigation into Trump’s actions and asked the Archives to turn over additional information. Trump previously confirmed that he had agreed to return certain records to the Archives, calling it “an ordinary and routine process”.
Attack on the US Capitol
A congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack by Trump supporters on the US Capitol is working to build a case that he broke the law in trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
Vice chair Liz Cheney has said the committee could make multiple referrals to the Justice Department seeking criminal charges against Trump, who accuses the panel of conducting a sham investigation.
In a March court filing, the committee detailed Trump’s efforts to persuade Mike Pence to either reject slates of electors for Joe Biden, who won the election, or delay a congressional count of those votes.
The committee cannot charge Trump with federal crimes. That decision must be made by the Justice Department, led by attorney general Merrick Garland. If the Justice Department brings charges, prosecutors’ main challenge will be proving that Trump acted with corrupt intent, experts said.
Trump also could be charged with “seditious conspiracy”, a rarely used statute that makes it illegal to overthrow the US government by force, a charge that has already been levied against multiple participants in the assault.
Wire fraud
Democrats said in a June hearing of the 6 January committee that Trump, a Republican, raised some $250m from supporters to advance fraudulent claims in court that he won the election, but steered much of the money elsewhere.
This raises the possibility that he could be charged with wire fraud, which prohibits obtaining money on “false or fraudulent pretenses”, legal experts said.
The Guardian’s Congressional reporter, Hugo Lowell, writes that Trump has previously come under scrutiny for his flagrant violations of the Presidential Records Act — but the raid, for the first time, appears to mark potential legal jeopardy for Trump over his records-keeping.
The statute governing the unlawful removal or destruction of presidential records — though rarely enforced — carries significant penalties: fines, imprisonment and, most notably, disqualification from holding office.
Read Hugo Lowell’s full report on the search below:
A quick snap here from Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
“Biden’s out of control DOJ is ripping this country apart with how they’re openly targeting their political enemies. This is what you see happen in 3rd World Banana Republics!!!” he wrote over Twitter.
Trump Jr.’s comments come as members of the Trump family attempt to cast the search as part of a Democratic-driven effort to keep the former president from winning another term in 2024.
Updated
The House Oversight Committee, which is leading the congressional investigation into mishandled documents, has released a statement this evening.
Chairwoman, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, said:
Presidents have a solemn duty to protect America’s national security, and allegations that former President Trump put our security at risk by mishandling classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny.”
30 FBI agents 'ransacked' Mar-a-Lago home: Eric Trump
Donald Trump’s eldest son Eric has given an interview with Fox News this evening, claiming 30 FBI agents “ransacked” his father’s home.
To have 30 FBI agents - actually more than that - descend on Mar-a-Lago and give absolutely no notice go through the gates, start ransacking an office, ransacking a closet ... you know they broke into a safe.”
Eric Trump said he had spent the day with his father and that the search happened because “the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”
Asked how the documents ended up at Mar-a-Lago, Eric Trump said the boxes were among items that got moved out of the White House during “six hours” on Inauguration Day, as the Bidens prepared to move into the building.
“My father always kept press clippings,” Eric Trump said. “He had boxes, when he moved out of the White House.”
Updated
Trump and his allies immediately sought to cast the search as part of a Democratic-driven effort to keep him from winning another term in 2024, even though the Biden White House said it had no prior knowledge of the search and the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump five years ago and served as a high-ranking official in a Republican-led Justice Department.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said in his statement.
He added: “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. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
We are receiving some images from the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Armed secret service agents were seen standing outside an entrance to the former president’s home late Monday.
Police were also seen directing traffic outside one entrance to the estate.
Classified material found in 15 boxes - reports
The search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home appears to have been related to an investigation into the former president unlawfully taking White House classified documents with him to the residence after his presidency.
The discovery of classified information at the Palm Beach property was referred to the Justice Department by the National Archives and Records Administration, which said it had found classified material in 15 boxes at the residence, according to the Associated Press.
Federal law bars the removal of classified documents to unauthorized locations, though it is possible that Trump could try to argue that, as president, he was the ultimate declassification authority.
There are multiple statutes governing classified information, including a law punishable by up to five years in prison that makes it a crime to remove such records and retain them at an unauthorized location.
Another statute makes it a crime to mishandle classified records either intentionally or in a grossly negligent manner.
Updated
US officials surprised by search - reports
The news that the FBI executed a search on Trump’s home has come as a surprise to many US officials.
Many of Trump’s advisers have said they are unclear exactly why the search warrant was issued, according to the New York Times.
President Biden’s top aides found out about the search from reports on Twitter and had no advance notice, a Democratic source familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
Senior White House officials said they only saw the news via former President Trump’s statement.
Updated
Trump's statement in full
Donald Trump issued a statement on Monday, saying his Mar-a-Lago home had been “raided” and that authorities had even broken into a safe.
Read the full statement, released shortly before 7pm ET, below:
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. 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 not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.
The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends. It is political targeting at the highest level!
Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 E-mails AFTER they were subpoenaed by Congress. Absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. She even took antique furniture, and other items from the White House.
I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican Party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped.
I will continue to fight for the Great American People!”
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 8, 2022
Updated
After leaving the White House, Donald Trump moved into his Mar-a-Lago estate in the exclusive Florida enclave of Palm Beach.
During his presidency, Mar-a-Lago was known as Trump’s “winter White House”. Trump and his wife, Melania, returned to the Florida resort after leaving Washington and since then, the president has made it the centre of his political dealings.
The FBI reportedly executed a search warrant at the residence around 6pm ET which appears to have been related to an investigation into Trump unlawfully taking White House documents with him to the property after his presidency, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments.
It is 8.30pm in Florida where former US president Donald Trump has said FBI agents raided his estate on Monday and broke into his safe.
The reported raid comes amid a US justice department investigation of Trump’s removal of official presidential records to the Palm Beach, Florida, club.
What we know so far:
- Trump claimed FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday and broke into his safe, adding that his estate “is currently under siege, raided, and occupied.”
- The FBI executed a search warrant around 6pm ET which appears to have been related to an investigation into Trump unlawfully taking White House classified documents with him to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency, according to a source familiar with the matter.
- The search appeared to concern boxes of classified documents that Trump brought with him from the White House to the Florida club, the New York Times reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the investigation.
- Trump said: “After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate ... They even broke into my safe!”
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Trump was not at the estate at the time of the raid and was in the New York area, according to CNN.
- Trump compared the FBI raid to “Watergate” and blamed it on “Radical Left Democrats” who he said “desperately don’t want me to run for president in 2024 … who will do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming midterms elections”.
- The US justice department launched an early-stage investigation into Trump’s removal of records to the Florida estate, a source familiar with the matter said in April.
- The investigation comes after the US national archives and records administration in February notified Congress that it had recovered about 15 boxes of White House documents from Trump’s Florida home, some of which contained classified materials.
- Trump initially delayed returning the 15 boxes of material requested by officials for many months, only doing so when there became a threat of action being taken to retrieve them.
- The US justice department and the FBI has declined to comment on the raid.
Updated
