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Donald Trump has said he plans to file a legal motion in response to the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, claiming his Fourth Amendment rights were violated.
In a series of posts on Truth Social this Friday, the former president condemned the raid of his Florida home after law enforcement seized 10 boxes of classified files Trump allegedly took after leaving office.
‘Never in our Country’s history has there been a time where law enforcement has been so viciously and violently involved in the life and times of politics in our Nation,’ Trump wrote.
‘A major motion pertaining to the Fourth Amendment will soon be filed concerning the illegal Break-In of my home, Mar-a-Lago, right before the ever-important midterm elections.
‘My rights, together with the rights of all Americans, have been violated at a level rarely seen before in our Country,’ he added.
It’s the latest in Trump’s battle with the FBI, as former running mate Mike Pence said he did not remove any classified material after serving as vice president.
Donald Trump said he will be filing a legal motion claiming his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8
The president made the announcement on Truth Social, calling the the raid a ‘witch hunt’
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence (center) said he did not remove any classified material after serving his term
Two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News’ Robert Costa that Trump’s motion would be filed in the coming days and will seek the appointment of a ‘special master’ to review and return the evidence collected by the FBI on August 8.
The Fourth Amendment mandates that a search of a person’s home is only legal when there is reasonable cause.
A search warrant for Mar-a-Lago was signed off by a federal judge, with the backing of US Attorney Merrick Garland. Parts of the affidavit will likely be released next week.
Hugo Lowell, of the Guardian, added that multiple sources told him that the new motion was going to be filed in part because of Trump attorney Christina Bobb’s disastrous interview with Fox’s Laura Ingraham.
In the Thursday interview, Bobb failed to inspire confidence on how secure Trump kept the seized files, saying they were behind a locked door in a basement by the pool.
‘Only certain members of staff can get there, and then there’s only one key,’ Bobb said, despite the fact that classified files normally need to be kept in what’s known as a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF).
Ingraham also rebuked Bobb for not filing a motion to re-unseal the affidavit, which sources told Lowell ‘made [Trump] look bad.’
While the former president battles allegations that he took classified materials from the White House, Pence has tried to distance himself from his former running mate.
Pence was attending the Iowa State Fair and said the FBI and DOJ needed to be fully transparent about the raid and documents seized at Mar-a-Lago
During the raid, 10 boxes of material were removed from Mar-a-Lago; above a member of the Secret Service is seen at Trump’s Florida home
Pence, asked directly if he had retained any classified information upon leaving office, told The Associated Press in an interview, ‘No, not to my knowledge.’
Despite the inclusion of material marked ‘top secret’ in the government’s list of items recovered from Mar-a-Lago, Pence said, ‘I honestly don’t want to prejudge it before until we know all the facts.’
Speaking further about the search of Mar-a-Lago, the former vice president raised the possibility, as he has previously, that the investigation was politically motivated and called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to disclose more details on what led authorities to conduct the search.
‘The concern that millions of Americans felt is only going to be resolved with daylight,’ Pence said Friday. ‘I know that’s not customary in an investigation. But this is unprecedented action by the Justice Department, and I think it merits an unprecedented transparency.’
In his Friday posts, Trump once again characterized the FBI and Department of Justice’s investigation on him as a ‘witch hunt’ that began the moment he announced he was running for president.
Trump expressed his frustrations over the raid, calling it politics that is destroying the US
‘When will people realize that the atrocities being perpetrated by the FBI and DOJ having to do with the Raid and Break In of my home, Mar-a-Lago, or after years of other atrocities and unthinkable violations of freedom and the law,’ Trump wrote.
This has been going on for years, from the moment I came down the golden escalators in Trump Tower, right up until the present.
‘And nothing has ever happened like that which is going on in our Country right now,’ he added.
‘The law enforcement of our Country has become that of a Third World Nation, and I do not believe the people will stand for it—between Fraudulent Elections, Open Borders, Inflation, giving our Military to the Enemy, and so much more—how much are we all expected to take?’