FBI raids Queens man’s Florida home
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Former Jamaica Estates resident Donald Trump, who served one term as president, had his Florida home searched by FBI agents on Monday, Aug. 8, as part of an investigation into whether or not he took classified documents from the White House. AP Photo/Morry Gash
By Jacob Kaye
The FBI raided the Florida home of a Queens-born real estate developer on Monday as part of an investigation into whether or not the man took classified documents from the White House.
Former President Donald Trump was greeted Monday morning by federal law enforcement officials conducting an “unannounced” search for classified documents allegedly taken by the former Jamaica Estates resident from the White House to his Florida compound.
The search was part of one of two federal investigations into the former president who made history when he became the first Queens man to be impeached and then made history again a little over a year later when he became the first Queens man – and person – to be impeached twice.
The National Archives and Records Administration allegedly received 15 boxes of White records from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, a potential violation of multiple federal laws concerning the handling of classified information, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Trump, who was first impeached after he was accused of pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate now-President Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign, characterized the “raid” as a political attack – Trump has hinted at making a third run for the office in 2024.
“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,” Trump said in a statement, according to the AP. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
In a social media post Monday night, he added that the search was a “weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.”
While a number of Republican lawmakers came to Trump’s defense this week, he also saw support from a former political foe – fellow Queens boy.
“DOJ must immediately explain the reason for its raid & it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation & legitimacy of January 6 investigations,” former Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote on Twitter.
In August of last year, Cuomo became the first Queens-born governor to resign from the post. His resignation announcement came a week after State Attorney General Letitia James published a report alleging he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women during his time as the state’s top elected official.
Trump is facing a separate grand jury investigation into his role in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Should either of the investigations result in criminal charges, and should he be convicted of them, Trump would have a chance to make history for the borough once again – he’d potentially become the first Queens man to be barred from holding federal office ever again.
