Former President Donald Trump’s campaign store unveiled a new welcome mat Sunday in an apparent nod to the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence last week.
The 45th president and his political allies have pushed their fundraising efforts into overdrive in the wake of Monday’s unprecedented raid of his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, sending out loads of emails and texts to supporters urgently requesting donations. On Saturday, the former president’s team announced in an email to supporters that welcome mats reading, “Don’t blame this family — we voted for Trump,” were now available on their website.
The doormats were likely developed and manufactured prior to the raid, and the email announcement about them made no reference to the Mar-a-Lago search. Nevertheless, the merchandise could serve as a dig at the federal law enforcement investigations into the former president.
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In another email to supporters later Sunday, one of many that the former president has sent since Monday’s shocking search of his winter residence, Trump’s team wrote that “an army of agents broke into Mar-a-Lago.”
“A surprise RAID, POLITICS, and all the while, our Country is going to HELL at the hands of the Democrats,” the email read. “We cannot stand for this, Friend. THEY BROKE INTO MY HOME — the home of the 45th President of the United States. I could really use your help right now. Can I count on YOU to rush in a donation by the end of the day? Your support cannot wait.”
The Monday search by the FBI was reportedly related to boxes of documents Trump brought back with him to his Florida resort after leaving office. The National Archives and Records Administration has previously said some presidential records in 15 boxes obtained from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year included materials marked as classified.
The warrant that allowed FBI agents to execute the search, unsealed on Friday, revealed that Trump was being investigated for a possible violation of the Espionage Act and possible obstruction of justice.
FBI agents found several classified documents during their raid of the residence, with some documents being considered the highest level of classification, according to the warrant. In its search, the agency recovered 11 sets of classified documents among 20 boxes that were taken, including handwritten notes, binders full of photos, and the executive grant of clemency given to Trump ally Roger Stone.
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Trump has not been charged in the incident, and the investigation into the handling of White House documents is underway. However, the warrant detailed possible violations of several U.S. statutes. The former president rejected reports indicating that the FBI obtained multiple sets of classified information from the Florida resort, saying that the files he possessed were “all declassified.”
The Presidential Records Act mandates public ownership of all presidential records and that they must be preserved by each administration. When it comes to the classified documents, Trump’s lawyers argued the 45th president used his authority to declassify the information he took with him when he left office. Although a president has the power to do so, it’s not clear if Trump went through the appropriate process to declassify the documents.
Regardless of if Trump is charged or not, the issue has unified Republicans around the belief that there is a double standard in the FBI with regard to how they treat political figures. GOP lawmakers have argued that the FBI has appeared to approach Trump, a Republican, without the presumption of innocence granted to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, when she was investigated for her use of a private email server or Hunter Biden as he faces investigations into his business and tax dealings.
