FBI returns to Trump boxes of classified material seized at Mar-a-Lago in 2022

The White House announced Friday that the FBI returned to President Donald Trump all of the boxes seized in 2022, when the agency conducted an unannouced raid in Mar-a-Lago, Florida as part of former special prosecutor Jack Smith's investigation, which raised harsh criticism against the Justice Department at the time.

"The FBl is giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids. We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One," said Steven Cheung, White House communications director.

Trump also celebrated the return of the files on Truth Social , calling Smith "unhinged" and promising that the documents will one day be in his presidential library.

"The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes that Deranged Jack Smith made such a big deal about. They are being brought down to Florida and will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library," Trump said. "Justice finally won out. I did absolutely nothing wrong. This was merely an attack on a political opponent that, obviously, did not work well. Justice in our Country will now be restored."

The FBI raid against Trump generated much controversy at the time, dividing the public between those who supported the move, arguing that no one should be above the law, and those who backed the Republican front-runner, denouncing a double standard by the country's institutions of justice.

Many recalled, for example, how President Joe Biden illegally withheld classified documents and faced no major consequences, unlike Trump, who faced 37 criminal charges for mishandling secret files.

The FBI executed the search warrant for potentially classified material at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, taking a total of 20 boxes and recovering some 300 classified documents. In theory, all were returned.

Ultimately, Smith's case was dismissed.