The FBI's search of former-President Donald Trump's residence in Florida on August 8 unleashed a storm of criticism and accusations from Republican and conservative TV, radio and podcast hosts, who have claimed that the "raid" on Mar-a-Lago was illegal at best and an attempt at "coup" at worst.
The bureau's director has tried to fend off criticism by claiming that questioning the FBI's work undermines the rule of law.
"Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others,” Director Christopher Wray said.
However, a number of conservatives believe that it was the FBI which undermined the rule of law and democracy in the US. For his part, Trump has called the search a sign of "dark times" in the US, hours after the bureau's agents entered his estate.
But the harshest criticism has come from an array of conservative commentators, such as talk show host Buck Sexton, who stated that what the FBI did felt "like a pre-emptive coup" seeking to prevent Trump from running for a second term.
12 August 2022, 02:46 GMT
YouTube political commentator Steven Crowder likewise described the bureau’s actions as "wrong" and "tyrannical," while chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Matt Schlapp, suggested that the US may officially turned into a "Third World country" where – he alleged - law enforcement could do as it pleases.
Biden Moves Against Trump?
Fox News hosts took the criticism up a notch, suggesting that the Biden administration had a hand in organizing the raid, with the broadcaster running a line during a show saying "BIDEN'S FBI RANSACKS HOME OF POTENTIAL 2024 OPPONENT".
One of its hosts, Sean Hannity, accused Biden of using the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI, as a shield against his "most formidable election foe".
The White House, in turn, insisted on August 11 that Biden neither ordered the search nor was briefed on it. The DoJ likewise maintained that it acts autonomously from the rest of the administration.
While Trump is yet to announce plans for a 2024 presidential run, he has repeatedly hinted at plans to enter the race. Incumbent Biden has so far remained ambiguous regarding his prospects for a second term.
Potentially Impeachable Offence
Declarations from GOP politicians were not as harsh as those made by conservative commentators. Nonetheless, they did demand that the DOJ and the FBI provide an explanation as to why they had conducted the search in the former US president's estate – the first such case in history. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Department of Justice owed Americans this explanation.
"The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday. Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately," McConnell said.
Another Republican senator, Rand Paul, insisted that the DOJ unseal the warrant that had been used to search Mar-a-Lago, adding that a fully-fledged investigation must be conducted regarding the circumstances. Paul also raised the prospect of impeaching Attorney General Merrick Garland if he fails to make a case for the FBI search.
As of now, not much is known about the cause of the search. The FBI had already visited Mar-a-Lago a month ago to retrieve some of the documents that Trump failed to hand over to the National Archives upon leaving the White House and as required by law.
Trump's lawyers gave up the documents, but several unconfirmed media reports have claimed that the FBI was tipped off about more sensitive docs left behind. It is unclear if the tip was real and if it helped to secure the search warrant, but bureau agents were seen extracting around 12 boxes of unknown content in the August 8 search.
If It Was Legal, Why the Fuss?
As legal as the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago might have been – something which remains to be seen as it is unclear on what evidence the sealed search warrant was signed –, conservatives have many reasons to distrust the bureau and its attitude towards Donald Trump. On several occasions, FBI agents have been found to be, or suspected of being, biased against Trump.
In 2015, then-presidential hopeful Trump claimed that ‘Deep State’ - an alleged conspiracy network operating within the US government - was trying to prevent him from being elected. While Trump never uncovered the "secret network," several probes initiated by him (and the Democrats) revealed that some FBI agents held anti-Trump partiality and that the bureau's investigation into his campaign was riddled with cases of poor judgement and conduct.
Namely, one of the agents, Peter Strzok, who led the probe into the since-debunked claims of “collusion” between Trump's campaign and Russia, and who later joined the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was found to have had biased views against the Republican president. While conducting a probe into the then-US president, Strzok exchanged messages with a FBI colleague in which he made disparaging comments about Trump and stated that his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, should have won by an overwhelming majority.
In addition, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found in 2019 that the original FBI probe into Trump's alleged ties with Russia, called operation Crossfire Hurricane, was based on the information obtained from a source that the bureau quickly learnt to be unreliable. The source was revealed as former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, who had been hired by the Clinton campaign and the Democrats to dig dirt on Trump.
His since-discredited dossier was used by FBI agents to obtain warrants to wiretap some Trump campaign aides on several occasions. Horowitz found out that excerpts from the so-called Steele dossier were used to extend the warrant even when the bureau had already known that Steele's findings should not be trusted.