FBI Searches Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Residence, Cracks His Safe

The FBI executed a search warrant on Monday night to enter former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as a part of their probe into the alleged mishandling of presidential documents.

“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 in a statement, before noting that the Bureau had even broken into his safe.

“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” he added.

Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago during the search, instead, he was at Trump Tower in New York City.

Trump’s son, Eric Trump, received the call that the search was to be executed on Monday, and alerted his father.

“The purpose of the raid was, from what they said, was because the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession,” Eric Trump told Fox News. “And my father has worked so collaboratively with them for months. In fact, the lawyer that’s been working on this was totally shocked. He goes, ‘I have such an amazing relationship with these people and all of a sudden, on no notice, they send 20 cars and 30 agents?'”

Early this year, the National Archives announced that it sought 15 boxes of records that had illegally been taken to Trump’s Florida estate. In February, The National Archives called on the Justice Department to open an investigation into Trump’s handling of classified White House records and see if he violated the Presidential Records Act which requires presidents to turn in all memos, letters, emails and papers that they touched at the end of their term.

A search warrant requires signoff from a federal judge who could issue a warrant based on the evidence found, signaling a more serious investigation than was previously assumed.