‘This is a gift for Trump’: How GOP plans to weaponise FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid for midterms
There’s lots not clear about Florida raid, but we do know Republicans will seek to use it to their advantage, writes Andrew Buncombe
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Your support makes all the difference.There were a lot of lights flashing outside Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
As two-dozen fans of the former president rushed to the property to show their support after the FBI conducted a raid and seized documents, police vehicles positioned themselves at strategic locations.
Those who welcomed the raid and wanted to see the Department of Justice (DOJ) step up its pressure on Mr Trump, amid several investigations into the events of 6 January, may have considered the flashing lights a cause for celebration.
Yet as America and the world watched with open mouths as another twist in the saga of Donald J Trump played out, he, his family and top officials in the Republican Party, saw in those flashing lights a convenient and timely means of attacking Joe Biden and the Democrats.
Nobody was more dramatic in their description of what had happened than Mr Trump himself.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” he claimed. “It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponisation of the justice system.”
He added: “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third World countries.”
Mr Trump’s theme was echoed by Ronna McDaniel, who as chairperson of the Republican Party will have a major voice in how the party campaigns for the midterm elections.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Countless times we have examples of Democrats flouting the law and abusing power with no recourse, including Hunter Biden,” she tweeted.
“Democrats continually weaponise the bureaucracy against Republicans. This raid is outrageous.”
The accusations of overreach were echoed by Mr Trump’s second son, Eric Trump, who claimed on Fox News: “All they want to do is they want to get Donald Trump. They raise money on it, they send fundraising emails about it, they brag on camera about it. They go after him, they subpoena him.”
Much remains unknown about the FBI raid at Mr Trump’s property south of Palm Beach, the location of the “winter White House”, where Mr Trump and his top officials spent much time escaping the cold bite of the Washington DC weather when he was president, and where has spent much of the past 18 months since leaving the capital.
It is not known how many agents carried out the raid – Mr Trump’s supporters claimed there were 100 – and while it is believed the search was carried as part of a missing documents investigation, in particular classified documents, it is not known what materials were recovered.
It remains unclear who signed off on the order for the raid to go ahead. A Florida district judge approved a search warrant sought by FBI agents – the agency currently headed by the Trump-appointed Christoper Wray – but how much higher up it went within the Department of Justice, and what knowledge Joe Biden had in advance of what was being planned, is not yet known.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to respond to inquiries on Tuesday. The Associated Press said DOJ spokesperson Dena Iverson declined to comment on the search, or even confirm whether or not attorney general Merrick Garland had given his approval.
What we do know is that Mr Trump’s supporters have seized on the issue, and have vowed to try and put pressure on both Mr Biden and Mr Garland if they win control of the House in November.
House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who wants to take Nancy Pelosi’s job as speaker, vowed Republicans would establish their own hearings.
“I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponised politicisation,” Mr McCarthy said. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney general Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
The message was being picked up by Mr Trump’s supporters in the media, who linked the raid to a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act to hire an additional 87,000 officials at the Internal Revenue Service, who could help the agency address a backlog of unprocessed returns.
On Fox News, broadcaster Harris Faulkner told viewers she thought the raid “galvanises in a different way”. She added: “This is a fear that all Americans have, that they can move on us, and there's nothing we can do about it, but they can raid our homes.”
Her colleague Carley Shimkus said the FBI raid made it more likely Trump would announce a presidential run ahead of the November midterms, and referred to Eric Trump being more outspoken on this issue than before.
“Honestly, I hope – and I’m saying this for the first time – I hope he goes out and beats these guys again because honestly, this country can’t survive this nonsense,” Eric Trump had told Sean Hannity, who has spent much of the last decade supporting President Trump and denouncing Democrats from his Fox News perch.
Loren Culp, a former police chief who secured Mr Trump’s endorsement to challenge a Republican congressman in Washington state, told The Independent the raid was an “unprecedented action taken by political opponents of President Trump to discredit and possibly try to charge him with some crime so he cannot run again”.
“This is a disgrace to our nation and the rule of law,” added Ms Culp, who failed to oust Dan Newhouse in Washington’s fourth congressional district.
Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist with a focus on Texas, said more information needed to be released about the raid and what the FBI obtained before a full assessment would be made if it harmed the former president.
However, as it stood he said the raid was “a gift politically to Trump”.
“All it does is fire up his his base, and gives him another argument to make... and makes it more likely he will run,” he added.
He said many Republicans may have preferred any announcement of another run be delayed until after the midterms as the party had a good case to campaign against democrats on soaring inflation and Mr Biden’s unpopularity, with Mr Trump muddying the water with fights about what happened in 2020.
The raid probably provided cover to Mr Trump to go ahead.
“I think this looks pretty outrageous to a lot of people. Unless you really hate Trump, this looks pretty outrageous,” he said.
The White House has been seeking to insist the raid was in no way political, and distancing the president from what happened. On Tuesday Mr Biden did not address it when he appeared before reporters.
With Mr Biden having recently scored a serues of successes – legislation for infrastructure, to help veterans and boost semi-conductor manufacturing – Democrats have finally been thinking they had something to campaign on, as they appealed to voters in November. Has the raid thrown mud in the water?
Mike Fraioli, a veteran Democratic strategist based in Washington DC, said Republicans were complaining about the raid without justification.
“What the Republicans are doing, what Kevin McCarthy and others are all doing, is an act,” he said. “They’re doing it to try and make Trump feel good somehow, but but it’s all an act.”
Mr Fraioli said “if half of what they say about Garland is half-true he's a serious, substantive individual, and he wouldn't proceed with something like this without having a damn good reason”.
He added: “Because if he proceeds, and it turns out to be a big nothing, hs reputation is destroyed and don't think he impresses people as a type somebody that would have his reputation destroyed.”
Later in the day, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that neither Mr Biden or his top aides had been told about the raid.
She was then asked whether the president was concerned about the potential bad image created internationally, by the raid on the home of a former president.
“You’ve heard the president say this, that the Justice Department conducts investigations independently and we leave any law enforcement issues to them. It would not be appropriate for us to comment on any ongoing investigations,” she added
Someone tried with any question – what was the reason for the raid?
“This is not something I'm going to comment on today,” said Jean-Pierre. “This goes to the Department of Justice and that's where I refer you.”
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