Former President Donald Trump’s Florida home was the target of a search and seizure operation by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation, equivalent to the US Federal Police) yesterday.
Neither the FBI nor Trump said what the call was about. According to unofficial information obtained by The New York Times, the former US president would have taken secret documents with him when he left the White House in January 2021.
The newspaper also claims that Trump received a visit from the FBI a few months ago at the mansion known as Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. According to sources heard by The New York Times, he was at home at the time, like at least one lawyer.
Yesterday’s operation, also confirmed by Trump himself, was more ostensible and involved the seizure of documents and the opening of a safe. He was not on the property at the time.
How serious is the doubt? Under the Presidential Records Act (PRA), all working papers, letters and emails from a president must be transferred to the National Archives, which is responsible for preserving records.
Therefore, if the investigation concludes that Donald Trump did not follow this rule, he could be charged and held criminally liable.
Allegations of improper removal of records have been under investigation for months, and another operation was carried out by the National Archives in February of this year, in which 15 boxes were collected in Mar-a-Lago.
In addition, Trump is suspected of improperly tearing up documents. Journalist Maggie Haberman, who wrote a book about the former president, gave Axios photos of her tearing up documents and flushing them down the toilet. Trump denies these accusations, calling them “fake news”.
Picture: ALEXANDER DRAGO
Can’t Trump be a nominee? Donald Trump has a long way to go before being banned from running in the election. The FBI is still investigating a suspect from the National Archives, which was reported to the Department of Justice.
If agents find sufficient evidence that the former president has actually violated the Presidential Records Act, they can be indicted, condemned, and then go through multiple hearings.
Even if convicted, it is not certain that Trump will not run. In the United States, there is no rule that prevents people from court from escaping (like the Clean Records Act in Brazil), so there are gaps in the interpretation of the impact of conviction on the likelihood of escaping.
What is Trump saying? Even with uncertainty about the impact of the action on a possible nomination, Trump said the FBI operation was “a setup by the justice system” to prevent him from running for the White House in 2024.
In a statement published yesterday on the social network Truth, the former president also classified the operation as a “violation of procedure” and attributed it to “radical left democrats” and added it to the list of those who, according to him, do not want it. his candidacy in 2024.
Such an action can only happen in the collapsed Third World countries. Unfortunately, the United States has become one of these countries.
Donald Trump made a statement on the FBI operation
How are Republicans reacting? The operation sparked outrage among politicians from the same Republican Party as Trump, who used Twitter, a network the former president had banned, to stage the show.
Party chairman Ronna McDaniel said Democratic politicians were breaking the law and were not investigated, accusing them of mobilizing the bureaucracy against the Republicans.
“This attack is outrageous,” he said. McDaniel. “Imagine if Biden and the Democrats care about inflation or gas prices half as much as they care about the Trump investigation.”
The party’s legal committee profile in the House of Representatives wrote that the investigation had two parameters, one on the right and the other on the left. The account also stated that the FBI is unreliable, stating, “If they could do that to a former president, think about what they could do to you.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin called the action “an impressive move” and said “selective and politically motivated action has no place in our democracy.”
According to The York Times and The Washington Post, the operation inflamed Trump supporters who spoke of war. No acts of violence have been recorded so far.
What else is Trump being investigated for? In addition to the classified documents case, Trump faces a long list of suspected abuses. The most important of these concerns the occupation of the Capitol, which is the US Congress.
Image: SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS
In this case, Trump is suspected of inciting the riot, which resulted in five direct deaths and 140 injuries. Four other security guards defending the Capitol committed suicide.
Trump is also responding to Democrat Joe Biden in lawsuits related to the 2020 election, which he lost. The Republican is suspected of interfering in the Georgia state elections and employing fake voters in seven different states.
Trump companies are the target of many investigations in New York, including financial fraud. Former president and their son Donald Jr. and Ivanka was due to testify about the case in mid-July, but testimony was delayed after the death of Ivana Trump, the Republican’s first wife and mother of his three eldest children.
Tycoon still faces legal disputes with his niece, Mary Trump, over a 2001 inheritance; with journalist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape and defamation, and Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, who accused him of improperly ordering him to lift his house arrest.
source: Noticias
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