RIVERSIDE (CNS) — Two Riverside County congressmen Tuesday criticized the FBI for its search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, with one calling it a “dangerous” precedent.
“A federal raid on the home of a former president and political opponent of the sitting president is unprecedented and a dangerous line to cross,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said. “As such, the Biden administration should act with an unprecedented level of transparency and provide the American people with the basis for this search and seizure.”
FBI agents served a warrant at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach on Monday for reasons that the U.S. Department of Justice has yet to specify.
According to published reports, the raid might have been connected to an investigation into the former chief executive’s retention of classified records. Agents carted off undisclosed materials.
“We know officials of the Department of Justice have broken the rules before to target Donald Trump,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, said. “We need to know if it happened again.”
The other members of Riverside County’s congressional delegation — Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, and Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Rancho Mirage — did not publicly comment on the FBI action, which sparked a social media firestorm among Trump’s supporters.
“American faith in the DOJ and FBI is at an all-time low, and we have a right to know the facts about this investigation,” Calvert said. “It is beyond frustrating that we know terrorists from the prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan boarded planes and are currently in the U.S., and an unknown number of terrorists have illegally crossed our borders, and yet the FBI is devoting thousands of hours of time and manpower to what appears to be a political persecution of a former president and possible future candidate.”
Trump likened the “unannounced raid” to “prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice Department.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who authorized the search, was appointed by Trump five years ago.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had not been informed ahead of time regarding the operation.
“The Justice Department conducts investigations independently, and we leave any law enforcement matters to them,” she said Tuesday. “We are not involved.”
At least one group of local activists, the Redlands Tea Party Patriots, is planning a protest outside the FBI field office in Riverside on Wednesday, in direct response to the search.
The demonstration is tentatively scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. along the sidewalk at 3480 Vine St.