In this episode, we are looking at the FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump. According to The Associated Press, the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, as part of a probe into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence. 

In a statement released by the former president on Monday, Trump wrote:

These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. 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. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries.

You can read his full statement through the link provided in the episode notes.

In an article titled "Mar-a-Lago search just part of one of several Trump probes," The Associated Press details the ongoing investigations into the former President.

Regarding this case, authors Lindsay Whitehurst and Alanna Durkin Richer note:

There are multiple federal laws dictating how classified records and sensitive government documents must be handled, including statutes that make it a crime to remove such material.

A search doesn’t necessarily mean criminal charges are imminent, but to get a warrant, federal agents would have to convince a judge they have probable cause to think a crime occurred.

You can read the full breakdown, including details of the Justice Department’s probe into the 2020 election and Capitol Riot, an investigation in Georgia over the 2020 election, and New York’s civil investigation into the Trump Organization, through a link in this episode’s show notes.

In another article from The Associated Press titled "Did Trump break the law? FBI search raises fresh questions," reporter Eric Tucker writes:

WASHINGTON — The year was 2016, the presidential candidate under investigation was Hillary Clinton and the FBI director at the time, James Comey, laid out the factors the Justice Department weighs in deciding whether to charge someone with mishandling classified records.

Fast forward to 2022 and that tutorial proves instructive as another candidate from that election, Donald Trump, is entangled in an FBI probe related to sensitive government documents.

Whether an FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence is a prelude to criminal charges is unknown. The action Monday nonetheless focuses attention on the thicket of statutes that govern the handling of government records, though the department's own history of prosecutorial discretion — some high-profile investigations have ended without charges or in misdemeanor plea deals — makes it hard to forecast with certainty what might happen this time.

“These are statutes that have historically not been enforced to the fullest extent,” said University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck.

You can read the full article through the link in the show notes. Walker provides reaction from Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, one of the many Republicans rallying behind the former president. Walker also explains the perspective of the FBI and Justice Department.

Related reading from this episode:

• Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America
• Trump says FBI searched estate in major escalation of probe
• GOP rallies around Trump following FBI search of his estate
• Did Trump break the law? FBI search raises fresh questions
• Mar-a-Lago search just part of one of several Trump probes
• EXPLAINER: How does the FBI get a warrant to search a home?

— Compiled and narrated by Terry Lipshetz from Associated Press reports