OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump is furious after he discovered what the FBI did to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
He took to his Truth Social account both before, and after, returning to Mar-a-Lago and what he discovered has him livid.
“I’ll soon be heading to the scene of the unwarranted, unjust, and illegal Raid and Break-In of my home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. I’ll be able to see for myself the results of the unnecessary ransacking of rooms and other areas of the house,” he said.
“It has already been proven that so much has been wrongfully taken, it is not a ‘pretty thing.’ So sad! The 4th Amendment, and much more, has been totally violated, a grave invasion of privacy. I will keep the American public informed on TRUTH!” the former president said.
He posted again on Truth Social after he examined the premises.
“Arrived in Florida last night and had a long and detailed chance to check out the scene of yet another government ‘crime,’ the FBI’s Raid and Break-In of my home, Mar-a-Lago. I guess they don’t think there is a Fourth Amendment anymore, and to them, there isn’t,” he said.
“In any event, after what they have done, the place will never be the same. It was ‘ransacked,’ and in far different condition than the way I left it. Many Agents — And they didn’t even take off their shoes in my bedroom. Nice!!!” he said.
An attorney for former President Donald Trump poured cold water on releasing any security footage of the FBI searching Mar-a-Lago.
During an interview on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, attorney Alina Habba said Trump likely wouldn’t release the footage because he “cares too much” about the federal agents.
Hannity asked Habba if Trump planned to release the security footage from Mar-a-Lago showing the FBI carrying out the search.
Habba said the legal team would discuss what the footage shows, but said “I don’t know” if they will release the videos.
“The truth is, unlike some of these federal agencies, we don’t leak. We follow the rules,” Habba said.
“You know why we wouldn’t honestly, Sean, because the president cares too much about the agents and the enforcement that were just doing their job,” Habba said. “And we have been told that their lives could be put at risk.”
WATCH:
Her comments come after a special master was appointed by a federal judge to examine documents seized by the FBI during a raid on Mar-a-Lago.
Former chief federal judge Raymond Dearie, appointed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this month, directed attorneys for Trump and the Justice Department to come to New York City for a “preliminary conference.”
Lawyers for the two parties are being asked to submit “proposed agenda items” to discuss by Sept. 19, the outlet added.
FBI officials say agents recovered around 100 items marked as ‘classified’ during the raid, though Trump has said he previously declassified everything in his possession before leaving office per his authority as president.
Dearie was appointed by Cannon, a Trump appointee, who declined a request by the Department of Justice to lift the temporary prohibition of the department’s usage of around 100 classified records which were taken from Mar-a-Lago during the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s search on Aug. 8.
The former veteran chief federal judge will review and separate documents that are covered by claims of privilege.
The Justice Department’s investigation, which is being delayed by the special master process, is reviewing documents recovered by the FBI during its search of Trump’s Florida property.
Dearie was first nominated to the federal bench in 1986 by then-President Ronald Reagan.
A former top U.S. spy chief has said he believes the FBI came up short during its Aug. 8 raid.
John Ratcliffe, a former U.S. congressman from Texas whom Trump tapped to serve as director of national intelligence, told Fox News last week that the bureau “didn’t find what they were looking” for, based on his observations.
“I was a former federal prosecutor, United States attorney. Let me tell you what this is about. Good prosecutors with good cases play it straight. They don’t need to play games,” Ratcliffe said, in reference to Justice Department officials. “They don’t need to shop for judges, they don’t need to leak intelligence that may or may not exist.”
The Justice Department’s arguments against having a federal court appoint a special master to review allegedly classified documents “tells you that the government didn’t find what they were looking for,” Ratcliffe continued.
