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Donald Trump was pictured at his Manhattan residence on Tuesday night as it emerged that the raid on his Florida home the previous day saw investigators even search through Melania Trump’s wardrobe.
Trump, 74, continued to vent his fury on Tuesday at the raid – which is believed to have been carried out to retrieve documents the former president took from the White House when he left.
By law, all presidential correspondence and documentation must be handed over to the National Archives, and since February it has been clear that Trump did not comply. Some documents were returned to the National Archives at the beginning of this year, but apparently not all.
FBI agents were inside the 128-room Florida estate for nine hours on Monday, with 30 agents roaming through the entire 3,000-square-foot private quarters.
The investigators searched the master bedroom, known as the Versailles Room, which Melania Trump renovated two years ago, The New York Post reported.
Donald Trump is seen on Tuesday evening arriving at Trump Tower, the day after the Mar-a-Lago raid
Trump was also in Manhattan on Monday, when the raid was carried out
The 74-year-old waved to the waiting press as he arrived back at Trump Tower
Trump reacted with fury to Monday’s raid, calling it an abuse of power and FBI over-reach
Trump did not appear to be accompanied by anyone in his family as he strode into his home
Their rummaging through Melania’s wardrobe was not explained by the paper.
The agents also searched a separate office and safe, and a locked basement storage room in which 15 cardboard boxes of material from the White House were stored, the paper said.
The Justice Department has not commented on the raid, which analysts said would have needed to be approved at the highest level.
Sources told the Post that Trump’s attorneys, led by Evan Corcoran, were ‘cooperating fully’ with federal authorities to arrange the return of the documents, with the process beginning in May 2021 when it was noticed that some records were missing.
Melania Trump was most recently seen on July 20, at the Manhattan funeral of Donald’s first wife Ivana
The former first lady is seen leaving Trump Tower on June 1
The above timeline highlights just some of former president Donald Trump’s battles with the National Archives since leaving office, including an unrelated court fight with the January 6 committee
In January 2022, some of the documents were returned, and in February this year the news became public.
In early June, four top DOJ officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago to speak with the former president’s attorneys about the documents.
The DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section chief Jay Bratt was reportedly among the group who sat down with Trump’s lawyers.
Trump’s team showed the government officials where Trump was storing documents – in a basement room.
Investigators reportedly observed that some of the files there were marked as classified.
At one point the former president himself reportedly stopped in to say hello and ‘make small talk’ before leaving again, CNN reported.
Days after the investigators’ visit, they reportedly sent a letter to Trump’s staff asking them to secure the room where they observed the documents being stored.
Aides then padlocked the area, according to CNN.
It is unclear what transpired between June and this week to make the FBI decide to forcibly claim the documents.
The ex-president was at Trump Tower in New York City at the time.
FBI agents with a search warrant raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida on Monday morning
Anti-media and pro-Trump protesters stands across the waterfront from Mar A Lago on Monday night
Trump supporters gathered in front of Mar-a-Lago on Monday night
His son Eric Trump told Fox News he informed his father of the raid.
The former president claimed he was a victim of political persecution in a statement that revealed the unannounced search to the public.
‘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 through his Save America PAC,’ he said.
‘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.’