53 percent of Americans agree with former Trump advisor Roger Stone’s characterization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as “Joe Biden’s personal Gestapo,” a new poll has found.
The survey, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, queried 1,000 US likely voters between August 15-16, asking them what they thought of the FBI’s August 8 raid on Trump’s Florida mansion.
44 percent of respondents said the raid made the FBI less trustworthy, with 29 percent holding the opposite view. 23 percent said the search did not impact their existing level of trust in the agency.
26 percent expressed a ‘very favorable’ view of the FBI, while 29 percent said their view was ‘very unfavorable’.
36 percent disagreed with Stone’s characterization of the agency as “Biden’s Personal Gestapo,” with 26 percent saying they ‘strongly disagree’ with that sentiment.
The FBI raid led to the seizure of 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, with the agency saying these included “top secret” and “sensitive compartmented information” – a classification for “above top secret” clearance. Agents also took other papers, including Trump’s passports and privileged legal documents which the former president said “they knowingly should not have taken.” The passports have since been returned.
The former president has promised legal action, announcing Friday that “a major motion pertaining to the Fourth Amendment will soon be filed concerning the illegal Break-In of my home, Mar-a-Lago, right before the ever important Mid-Term Elections.”
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution grants citizens a right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure.
“My rights, together with the rights of all Americans, have been violated at a level rarely seen before in our Country. Remember, they even spied on my campaign. The greatest Witch Hunt in USA history has been going on for six years, with no consequences to the scammers. It should not be allowed to continue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The former president and his allies have implied that the purpose of the raid was to prevent him from running again in 2024 amid President Biden’s sagging approval ratings and the lack of a mainstream Republican would-be candidate who could fill Trump’s shoes.
Trump’s attorneys were not allowed to observe the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search, and security cameras at the compound were shut off during the raid, leading to concerns among the former president’s supporters that the agency could tamper with or plant evidence.
Pro-Trump Republicans have also asked other questions, including why the judge who approved the raid was associated with convicted child sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and pointed out that the FBI unit involved in the raid is itself under investigation by special counsel John Durham over Russiagate – the debunked conspiracy theory suggesting that Trump is a Kremlin agent.
President Biden has not commented on the Mar-a-Lago raid, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declining to comment on the matter 18 times in a briefing last week.