Trump says FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida

Updated August 8, 2022 at 8:15 PM ET

Former President Donald Trump said on Monday that his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., was raided by the FBI.

The FBI and Department of Justice declined to comment.

In a statement put out by his political action committee, Trump said Mar-a-Lago was "under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents."

"After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate," the statement said, but Trump did not expand on how or what he has been cooperating with government agencies about.

Trump went on to blame Democrats who don't want him to run for president in 2024 for the incident, and said the same people also want to stop Republicans from winning in the midterm elections.

It's not clear why the raid was executed.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department started investigating possible mishandling of government secrets after the National Archives retrieved White House records from Mar-a-Lago.

In recent weeks, there have been reports that the Department of Justice was ramping up their investigations into Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — though there has not been reports of an investigation into Trump himself.

As Trump teases another run at the White House, former federal prosecutor Brian Jacobs told NPR that another Trump candidacy could weigh on DOJ prosecutors, but wouldn't impact any potential investigations.

"I think prosecutors in the Department of Justice all know that they are not allowed to select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges for the purpose of effecting any election," Jacobs said.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.