United States | The search of the former president’s apartment is extraordinary – What is known about the FBI raid?

of the United States the federal police FBI’s search of the country’s former president Donald Trump’s According to media reports, the Florida home in Mar-a-Lago is especially related to the documents of Trump’s presidency.

The FBI has refrained from commenting on the home search, which is why information about the search is scarce. HS compiled answers to key questions about home searches.

Read more: The FBI raided Donald Trump’s mansion for potentially classified documents

What is the FBI looking for in Trump’s apartment?

Federal police are likely looking for evidence of whether Trump destroyed or took classified documents from his presidency to his Mar-a-Lagon home.

By law, the president must hand over documents related to his term to the US National Archives. However, Trump has kept some of the documents even after his term. If it’s classified documents, Trump may be guilty of a crime.

Newspaper The Washington Post by Already in February, the US National Archives took 15 boxes of documents, some of which were classified, from Mar-a-Lago. According to Trump, he has since cooperated with researchers at the National Archives.

In June, researchers from the National Archives visited Mar-a-Lago again and spoke with Trump’s lawyers. The investigators were allowed into the basement of the house, where the boxes had been stored. Investigators are looking for additional evidence of document storage and possibly documents that have yet to be found.

Is the house search related to the takeover of the Capitol?

Apparently not, because it’s a different investigation.

The US Department of Justice is known to have two separate investigations into Trump. One of them deals with Trump’s involvement in the occupation of Capitol Hill and the attempt to overturn the result of the presidential election in January 2021.

Monday’s home search was about the possession of documents belonging to the National Archives.

“The purpose of the house search was [FBI:n agenttien mukaan] that the National Archives wanted to confirm whether Donald Trump was in possession [kansallisarkistolle kuuluvia] documents or not,” Trump’s son Eric Trump said in an interview with the Fox channel.

What do the documents contain?

It is not known what exactly is in the documents. According to The Washington Post, the documents reportedly included the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un exchange of messages with

According to the National Archives, there is also material from social media, such as Trump’s Twitter accounts. Some of the material may have been later deleted, and Trump’s account was later deleted entirely.

For example, Trump may have redacted versions of deleted social media messages. According to the National Archives, the administration also retrieved deleted tweets one by one.

What are we looking for in the material?

The National Archives knows at least approximately what it is looking for – if, for example, it lacks documents from an exchange of messages that is known about based on other sources.

It’s not so much about looking for a “smoking gun” per se, but about the whole.

Exporting classified documents can be a crime. Therefore, one relevant question is whether Trump has tried to declassify the documents after the fact.

As president, Trump had the right to do so. Trump might have been tempted to do such an afterthought, although after his term ends, he no longer has the right to do so.

Why such a drastic operation?

Searching a former president’s apartment is highly unusual, if not unique.

Sentences have been handed down for exporting classified documents in the past, but not very strong ones. President Bill Clinton’s national security adviser Sandy Berger was sentenced in 2005 to fines and a two-year suspended sentence for taking classified documents from the National Archives.

It is not known whether the Ministry of Justice plans to bring criminal charges, but there is now a lot of pressure to do so.

“Presidents have an important duty to protect [Yhdysvaltojen] national security, and allegations that former President Trump compromised our security by mishandling classified information deserve a thorough review,” said House Oversight Committee Chairman D-Rep. Carolyn Maloney among others according to the news channel CNN.

Republican leaders and conservatives in Trump’s party accuse the Department of Justice and the FBI of being heavily biased.

Read more: Trump’s supporters react to the FBI raid on the Florida mansion: “This is a third world thing”

Can Trump get criminal charges for taking the documents?

It is very uncertain.

If Trump has taken or destroyed classified documents, i.e. classified as confidential or secret, it could be a federal crime. It could potentially lead to criminal charges. However, this is not at all certain.

Why was the house search done right now?

One reason for the timing might be that it was the last minute.

Former prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN, that the FBI’s policy is to refrain from politically sensitive investigations when the election is less than 90 days away. The by-election will be held on November 8.