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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called on the Justice Department to explain itself on Tuesday evening, about 24 hours after a team of FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
“The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday,” McConnell said in a statement. “Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.”
The Senate Republican leader was in his home state after floods devastated parts of eastern Kentucky, killing dozens of people.
“I’m here to talk about the flood and recovery from the flood,” McConnell told reporters earlier in the day on Tuesday when asked about the raid.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, walks to the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
(Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Another top Senate Republican, Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday evening that he had spoken with FBI Director Christopher Wray.
TRUMP RAID LINKED TO DOJ, NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROBE INTO CLASSIFIED DOCS ALLEGEDLY TAKEN TO MAR-A-LAGO
“Less than a week ago, I expressed serious concern that what little remains of the FBI’s credibility is on the line following its inconsistent handling of politically sensitive investigations, failure to hold its own employees accountable for misconduct and consistent disregard for congressional oversight,” Grassley said in a statement.
“Last night’s raid on the home of a former U.S. president without explanation will only further erode confidence in the FBI and the Justice Department.”
The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home while he was in New York.
(Felipe Ramales: Fox News Digital)
Trump said on Monday that his Mar-a-Lago home was raided by FBI agents.
Sources told Fox News Digital that the search was related to materials the former president took with him from the White House and that the National Archives and Records Administration had referred the case to the Justice Department, which recovered 15 boxes of classified materials from the home.
House Republican leaders, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., condemned the raid on Monday evening.
Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is seen from a window of the plane.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria)
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Top-ranking congressional Democrats have mostly avoided making any statements on the raid so far.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to go into detail about the raid when asked on MSNBC. Pelosi said a warrant would “need justification.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Bradford Betz and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
