Trump accuses FBI of preventing his lawyers from monitoring raid, hints fake evidence was planted

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast doubt on the behavior of FBI agents who searched his Florida home late Monday, even suggesting law enforcement might have “planted” evidence.

Mr. Trump said his lawyers were kept away from parts of his Mar-a-Lago home during the FBI search.

“Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, ‘planting,’ Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out?” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he launched after being kicked off Twitter.

The Department of Justice and FBI have not revealed much about the search, what they were looking for or if they are investigating specific alleged crimes.

The search is believed to be part of an investigation into whether classified documents were taken to Mar-a-Lago rather than sent to the National Archives as required by law.

The raid was a notable development that could lead to legal trouble for the ex-president, who is mulling a 2024 presidential bid. 

Yet it also sparked a political backlash, with GOP allies rallying around Mr. Trump and vowing to investigate the Justice Department if they retake the House in the midterm elections.

Mr. Trump’s attorneys echoed some of their client’s claims in Fox News appearances on Tuesday.

“Quite honestly, I’m concerned that they may have planted something. At this point, who knows? I don’t trust the government, and that’s a very frightening thing as an American,” lawyer Alina Habba said.

However, another Trump attorney suggested that law enforcement would manufacture claims against the former president instead of planting evidence.

“At this point, I don’t necessarily think that they would even go to the extent of trying to plant information. I think they would just make stuff up and come up with whatever they want,” Christina Bobb told the cable network. “They don’t have anything, there’s just nothing there.”

The White House said President Biden was not given advanced notice about the search.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday also noted that Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were never raided despite unspecified “disputes.”