After the search of ex-US President Donald Trump’s property in Florida on Monday, numerous high-ranking party colleagues supported him. Republican Trump, meanwhile, continued to lash out at the search, calling it a “coordinated attack” by Democrats.
“Our cities are teeming with criminals, but Garland’s politicized Justice Department is targeting President Trump and members of Congress,” House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The influential Republican Mitch McConnell, whom Trump himself repeatedly denigrates as an “old crow”, called for an immediate clarification of the events. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley made a similar statement.
Cell phone confiscated from confidant
The news portal “Axios” reported last night (local time) that the FBI had confiscated Trump ally Rick Perry’s cell phone. This is yet another sign that the investigation into the 2021 US Capitol attack is picking up steam.
Perry was part of the team surrounding Trump that was actively working to overturn the 2020 election outcome. In a statement, Perry said three agents confiscated his phone while he was out with his family. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.
FBI took twelve boxes
Meanwhile, more and more details about the background of the action are becoming known. According to media reports, the authorities assumed that Trump’s team had not returned all the documents that the ex-president had taken from the White House after his term in office.
Investigators are said to have visited Trump’s property in the spring to talk to his team about the government documents, US media reported. Officials finally suspected that Trump or his team were still holding onto important documents, the Washington Post wrote, citing anonymous sources. The FBI is said to have taken twelve boxes during the search.
Trump continued to rant about the search yesterday on the Truth Social network he co-founded. “A terrible thing that took place in Mar-a-Lago yesterday. We are no better than a third world country, a banana republic,” he wrote. He accused his successor, Joe Biden, of having known about the search in advance. The White House rejected that.