misconduct, a weaponization of the justice system, an attack by radical left democrats who don t want me to run for president in 2024. now he did also comment very briefly joking about the situation, calling into a tele-rally for former alaska governor sarah palin who is now running for congress and called it a strange day and another day in paradise but said nothing further. so the former president putting out that written statement calling this a raid saying that his safe was broken into. this is a search warrant signed off by a judge. mika. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez. thank you very much. jonathan lemire, your thoughts on this as trump uses this fbi search to his benefit, playing the victim and rallying the troops. well he certainly is never
listen to donald trump. that s right, another day in paradise. this was a strange day. you probably all read about it, but very important. so tell us the truth in terms of the reporting. it s not a good day when the fbi raids your house. trump is very good, very effective, i know democrats out there get angry when you say this, but very effective at playing the victim card and turning crises into political opportunity. but they have to be rattled in trump world. he s certainly trying to use it to his advantage. obviously, this bolsters this argument that he s long held which is basically the government is pitted against him. they are constantly going after him, witch hunt, reverse watergate which is how he s framing this. that has been a long standing position of this. it s true that could bolster that. you re hearing it from republicans and his own family members who say if he does decide to run in 2024, they believe this will put wind in his sails. you also have to look at how
later received a letter asking them to further secure the room where the documents were stored. i really don t believe the department would have taken such a significant step as getting pursuing a search warrant for the president s residence about information that they already had back there had to be a suspicion, a concern, and indeed specific information that led them to believe that there were additional materials that were not turned over. reporter: trump releasing a lengthy statement. 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. nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the united states before. also noting, they even broke into my safe. trump later called in to a virtual rally for sarah palin he referenced the raid again. that s right, another day in paradise. this was a strange day. tonight trump has released a new
approval of attorney general merrick garland and fbi director christopher wray. now, in a statement, the former president said this: these are dark times for our nation as my beautiful home, mar-a-lago in palm beach florida is under siege raided by a large group of fbi agents. white house officials claim they didn t know about the raid, no, really. telling fox news, quote: we did not have notice of the reported action and would refer you to the justice department for any additional information. now, for his part, the former president, who was on the stump for former alaska governor sarah palin who, as you probably know, is running for congress. well, he was doing that just hours after the raid on his home and he said this. thank you very much. that s right. another day in paradise. this was a strange day. you probably all read about it but very important. as news of the raid spread, supporters of the former president set up shop just
other than his written statement, trump s only public comment was a muted one, when he called in for a sara pal lynn campaign event. another day in paradise. this is a strange day. you probably all read about it. reporter: abc news has learned this wasn t the first time federal law enforcement visited mar-a-lago on this matter. a smaller team of agents visited in the spring while trump was there, met with his lawyers, and reviewed some documents. since the raid, neither the justice department nor the fbi has made any comment. the white house press secretary says president biden knew nothing about it. the president was not briefed, did not was not aware of it. no, no one at the white house was given a heads-up. no, that did not happen. reporter: when asked recently if former presidents are shielded from prosecution, attorney general garland said this no person is above the law in this country. nothing stops us even a former president? no i don t know how to maybe