Cape Town – Search was done “by the book” and formed part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s removal of official government property from the White House at the end of his term, Reuters said.
The agency tasked with preserving government records revealed it had found 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago, with some being classified national security documentation.
“Their job is to conduct investigations in accordance with the law and to not prejudice the rights of the people they are investigating while they do it,” said former federal prosecutor Kristy Parker.
“What we are seeing is a by-the-book process, and that is a good sign that we have an independent Department of Justice.”
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday, that US President Joe Biden was not briefed ahead of time about the FBI raid on political rival Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
According to Sputnik News agency, Trump in a statement following the raid, said that he condemned the incident as a weaponisation of the US justice system against him.
“No, the president was not briefed, was not aware of it. No one at the White House was given a heads up,” Jean-Pierre said during a White House press briefing when asked whether Biden was briefed on the situation.
Furthermore, Trump’s Republican allies in Congress have accused prosecutors of political foul play.
A former US government attorney with national security expertise said a relatively simple case could be brought forward involving Trump's removal of the classified documents. This, compared to the legal challenges of trying to prove that the former president knowingly attempted to overturn the 2020 election and provoke the Capitol assault.
IOL