Two people close to the former president said they believe he will expedite his decision to run for the White House again.
Donald Trump’s team and allies are moving swiftly to draw political benefit from an unannounced search by FBI agents at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday. And they’re keeping tabs of Republicans who aren’t, in their view, sufficiently rushing to his defense.
For hours, word of the search was kept to a close group of aides, lawyers, and Trump family members as it was taking place in real time. Then, Trump confirmed the news in a lengthy statement, only after it leaked out late in the afternoon that agents had left Mar-a-Lago. The bombshell set off frantic, hasty-arranged calls among Trump allies to discuss how to calibrate a response. And, soon enough, a clear narrative emerged from them: The search represented a deliberate political targeting, one that underscored the Democrat’s perception of Trump as a political threat.
“They’re going to drastically use this to rally their allies, GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and juice for his political agenda and run for 2024,” said a person close to the Trump operation. “If there was a 99 percent chance it’s 100 percent now. He makes it part of his platform – going after the FBI.”
Trump called it not “necessary or appropriate.” His allies called it the weaponization of law enforcement and an escalatory move by a federal government they conspiratorially say is out to destroy Trump ahead of any presidential run. The FBI and DOJ have declined to comment on the search. Biden administration officials said they had no advance notice of it.
Alongside the anger towards the FBI, the sense among Trump allies was that the search could be a potential political boon for the ex-president.
Both the person close to Trump and another individual who is in touch with the former president speculated that he would now expedite his decision to announce a presidential bid. Dan Scavino, Trump’s longtime aide and social media guru, tweeted “DO IT — 45! #TRUMP2024.”
While Trump’s team was bullish about the political benefits of being targeted by the FBI, the situation comes with clear and obvious downsides. Legal experts said that it would be highly unlikely that the agency would have taken such action without clear evidence of wrongdoing — noting the rarity of a former president being targeted so aggressively. The search would require the signoff of a federal judge or magistrate, who would issue the warrant based upon evidence of a potential crime.
On top of that, Trump is embroiled in a number of legal dramas and headaches, in addition to being the focus and target of the House January 6 committee. Focus groups of Trump 2020 voters have shown that even they have grown wary of the drama that accompanies his political ventures and are ready to move on.
Trump, who spends his summer in Bedminster, N.J., was working at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan when he was told of the search as it unfolded by his son, Eric Trump. Christina Bobb, an attorney for Trump and former One America News Network host, was present at Mar-a-Lago as the FBI searched through Trump’s items, according to a person familiar with the day’s events. The person noted papers were seized from the home, where Trump has kept his primary residence and set up his post-presidential office.
In the hours after Trump issued his statement, a slew of prominent Republicans and allies ranging from RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) sent out statements of outrage and support. By the end of the night, the RNC had dashed off a fundraising text: “THIS IS NOT A DRILL: UNPRECEDENTED move Biden’s FBI RAIDS Pres. Trump’s home. Time to take back Congress.”
The statements from GOP officials became a litmus test for Trump aides and allies, who kept stock of which party members were condemning the FBI — and how strongly they’d done so. Aides said they were pleased with a statement by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who vowed to take action against the Department of Justice over the FBI’s search.
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Following an unannounced search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Monday, the former president's team and allies are keeping tabs of Republicans who are — and aren't — rushing to his defense and moving swiftly to draw political benefit.https://t.co/ymM4c5CYWr
— POLITICO (@politico) August 9, 2022
On behalf of defense lawyers everywhere I really appreciate the clarity with which the GOP is expressing that the role of law enforcement is only to police the powerless and that if it polices them it is so illegitimate it should be dissolved.
— DarkTimesHat (@Popehat) August 9, 2022
I can’t be certain, but a lot of Republicans in my timeline suddenly seem to be suggesting the defunding of law enforcement.
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) August 9, 2022
Donald Trump can tell us what was in the warrant any time he wants to, as you know, Senator Who Went to Yale Law School. https://t.co/JTYS6fFDPO
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 9, 2022
I see the parade of Trump strip-mall lawyers continues https://t.co/rxBp3FkI1D
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 9, 2022
If we’ve moved to the “FBI planted evidence” phase of things I’m pretty sure that means the FBI found something pretty damning.
— Jonathan Selbin (@JonathanSelbin) August 9, 2022Exactly! https://t.co/y7fcIjwkBu
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 9, 2022
Donald Trump led "lock her up" chants in reference to his chief political opponent in 2016. As President he said at a rally in Oct of 2020 "Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary." https://t.co/o6Um7SwhJD
— Tom Bonier (@tbonier) August 10, 2022
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