On Monday, the FBI and Department of Justice took an unprecedented action in conducting a search on a former president’s residence. Donald Trump has been in an ongoing dispute with the National Archives over his compliance with the Presidential Records Act. That dispute led to allegations of mishandling classified material, which reportedly prompted the warrant and the raid. 

This raises new concerns over politicization at the Department of Justice. Under Attorney General Merrick Garland’s leadership, the handling of school-board protests and non-enforcement of federal law regarding the intimidation campaigns targeting Supreme Court justices had already raised those questions.

No one is above the law, and a federal magistrate approved the search warrant. But Merrick Garland must publicly explain the decision to raid Mar-a-Lago rather than just subpoena the documents sought. That explanation had better justify the historical norm destroyed in this raid, or it will stand as yet more evidence of politicization in Joe Biden’s Department of Justice. 
It doesn’t look good.