After FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago home, Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan have spoken out against the siege, drawing into question the FBI’s integrity.
Trump took to social media on Aug. 8, stating that his home was being raided. He said the unprecedented operation amounted to “prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want [him] to run for President in 2024.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Trump said.
Trump’s son, Eric Trump, told Fox News that the raid was initiated to find out whether his father had any documents from his time serving as president. Eric Trump noted that the former president had been working with the National Archives on this issue for several months. To date, Trump has returned about 15 boxes of files.
According to federal law, presidential records must be preserved, including letters, notes and other written correspondence.
On Aug. 9, Sullivan joined his voice to those of several prominent Republicans in condemning the raid, saying it gives the appearance of a “weaponized” and selective justice system.
SULLIVAN STATEMENT
Like so many Americans, I am very disturbed by the unprecedented raid executed by the FBI against a former president. The Department of Justice at the highest levels — the attorney general and the director of the FBI — needs to explain the reasons for another FBI raid that has the appearance of the justice system being weaponized against political opponents.
I have the utmost respect for our state and federal law enforcement officers, who have difficult jobs and who often do not get the respect I believe they deserve. But from Ted Stevens to the Huepers in Homer, to the EPA raids in Chicken, Alaska, and recently the Mat-Su — I and so many other Alaskans are left with serious doubts about how federal officials are conducting law enforcement raids.
The worst thing in the world for our country is for Americans to start to believe the Justice Department and the FBI provide two tiers of justice. The department’s comparatively light treatment of Hillary Clinton’s gross mishandling of classified information reinforces that perception.
It is vital for our democracy that Americans have faith in our system of justice. I’m calling on the attorney general and the FBI director to give the American people the answers and transparency that they deserve.
