<<Print>>

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday tried to turn the news that the FBI had searched his Florida estate to his benefit, citing the investigation in text messages and emails soliciting political donations from his supporters.

The unprecedented search marked a significant escalation of the federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he was leaving office in January 2021. Trump continues to flirt publicly with running again for president in 2024 but has not said clearly whether he will do so.

The warrant was related to the National Archives and Records Administration, which is charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the public, and whether there were classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person said the FBI took about 10 boxes of papers, but that a safe that was searched was empty.

Trump tried to paint the search as a politically motivated move by President Joe Biden's administration at a time when the former president is playing a key role in Republican primaries ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress.

"They are trying to stop the Republican Party and me once more," Trump said in a fundraising email on Tuesday. "The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt, must be exposed and stopped."

Trump launched his Save America political action committee days after losing the 2020 election to Biden. It has more than $100 million in the bank, a formidable war chest. read more

His Republican allies in Congress vowed to launch an investigation of the search itself if they recapture control of the House or Senate in November. House Republicans including Representative Jim Banks were set to meet with Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on Tuesday. read more

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell took a more measured approach, saying the country deserved a "thorough and immediate explanation" of what led to the search.

"Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately," McConnell said in a statement.

The Justice Department and FBI have declined to comment on or even confirm the search, which Trump revealed in a statement on Monday.