Republicans outraged over Mar-a-Lago search

Senior Republicans are rallying around former President Donald Trump after the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago mansion on Monday.

The search aimed to determine whether Trump still held any classified documents that he removed from the White House when he left office in January 2021. But top right-wing lawmakers have lashed out at the FBI over the incident, which some claim has been politicized.

Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, who is mulling a presidential run of his own in 2024, claimed the search had the appearance of partisanship.

"I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump," he wrote on Twitter.

Trump allies cry foul

Other Republicans have slammed law enforcement in more fiery terms.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the search "another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the [Biden] regime's political opponents."

DeSantis is the key contender against Trump at the upcoming Republican presidential primaries, having polled in second place for months.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy, who is seeking to become Speaker of the House if the Republicans win November's midterm elections, also slammed what he called the "weaponized politicization" of the Justice Department.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading Trump ally, said "launching an investigation of a former president this close to an election is beyond problematic," while Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, called Monday's events a "dark day in American history."

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was elected to the House in 2021 but has fast earned a reputation for supporting Trump and spreading conspiracy theories, accused the FBI of going rogue.

"Last night's tyrannical FBI raid at Mar-A-Lago is unifying us in ways I haven't seen," she wrote on Twitter.

In response to these widespread accusations of political partisanship against the FBI, Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hit back, noting that "the FBI director was appointed by Donald Trump."

Trump fundraises off raid

On Tuesday, Trump used news of the FBI search to solicit campaign donations. In mass emails and text messages, he asked "every single American patriot" to help him against the "never-ending witch hunt."

But Jennifer Taub, an author and law professor at Western New England University School of Law, dismissed Trump's claims that the search was politically motivated. She noted that neither the White House nor local law enforcement knew about the operation.

"Joe Biden had a week long of great results. His approval ratings were up. He got this massive legislation passed," Taub told DW, referring to the landmark climate change, tax and drug pricing bill that passed the Senate on Sunday.

"And not only that, Donald Trump running [for president] would be ideal. There's no way he could possibly win anyway."

zc/wd (AP, Reuters, AFP)

Correction, August 10, 2022: A previous version of this article misspelled the name Marjorie Taylor Greene. DW apologizes for the error.