HARTFORD, Conn. — After the FBI searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, a former U.S. Attorney for Connecticut is weighing in on what some are calling an "unprecedented" amount of scrutiny on former President Donald Trump.
The search is believed to be part of an investigation into whether Trump took classified records from the White House to Mar-a-Lago. The investigation started months ago after the National Archives and Records Administration said it received 15 boxes of White House records earlier this year. Trump should have turned over those boxes upon leaving office, the National Archives said, and has since asked for the Justice Department to investigate. Investigators are trying to determine how those boxes got to Mar-a-Lago in the first place.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT), was U.S. Attorney from Connecticut from 1977 to 1981. His duties included enforcing federal criminal laws in Connecticut and representing the federal government in civil litigation in the District.
Blumenthal told FOX61 that he has executed searches as a federal prosecutor, and they all have to be "carefully vetted, screened, verified based on facts."
"This search warrant almost certainly was based on really carefully verified facts put together for a federal judge who approved the search, so it’s not shooting in the dark or speculation," Blumenthal said.
Trump was in New York at the time of the search, and has come out and said the search was an "unannounced raid," adding that agents had opened a safe at his home.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said.
Secret Service agents contacted the Justice Department and validated the warrant before going to the Mar-a-Lago estate, a source told the Associated Press.
"I’m gonna be very interested to see what exactly is disclosed as a result of this search," Blumenthal said. "Just to be absolutely sure, I am certain the DOJ, the Attorney General of the United States personally reviewed it and made sure all the facts were verifiable."
There are several federal laws in place when it comes to handling classified records and government documents. Moving classified documents to unauthorized locations is considered a crime.
"Remember that a search warrant is not an indictment, it’s not a criminal charge, it’s simply an investigative tool that’s based on verifiable fact and approval by the federal judge, so it’s not just the FBI on its own using its speculation or hypotheticals. It’s based on real fact,” Blumenthal said.
“The prosecutors at the Department of Justice and the Grand Jury will review whatever was taken at Mar a Lago and they’ll determine what its value is in terms of proving a crime or exonerating, but one way or another this evidence will be carefully reviewed by the Department of Justice, professionals, the professional prosecutors who are involved here would need really hard facts, verified, and facts would have to be in a sworn affidavit and approved by a judge," Blumenthal added. "The evidence now will be carefully reviewed to determine whether it proves a crime.”
Blumenthal said he did not have inside knowledge of the investigation from the Department of Justice.
Trump made no mention of the search during a Monday evening tele-town hall on behalf of Leora Levy, the Connecticut Republican he has endorsed in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primary.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Trump wrote Monday night.
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