Utah is second only to Virginia in producing U.S. presidents. That's where Republican Senator Mike Lee, is from. He has been in the Senate since 2011 and is up for re-election this year.
Lee, who is an attorney, asks ten questions about the FBI's search of Donald Trump's Palm Beach, Florida residence: Mar-a-lago. The federal agency entered the house to seize documents in Trump's possession that belong to the White House.
Trump had already turned over several boxes of these documents to the National Archives Agency, and was maintaining relationships with various agencies to turn over the documentation. In a search, the FBI has taken another 10 boxes of documents.
Nine questions
The Republican senator asks himself nine questions in a thread on Twitter, though for some reason he skips numbers four, eight and eleven. These are:
"As a lawyer, former federal prosecutor, and current member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have a few questions about the FBI’s raid of Mar a Lago. First, did Attorney General Garland personally sign off on this action?."
As a lawyer, former federal prosecutor, and current member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have a few questions about the FBI's raid of Mar a Lago. First, did Attorney General Garland personally sign off on this action?
- Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 9, 2022
"Secondly, why break into the safe rather than seizing it, take it into custody, and then seek a warrant to open it?"
"Third, why obtain and execute a search warrant rather than first seeking the items in question either through an informal process or with a subpoena?" Progressive attorney Alan Dershowitz asks a similar question. He said in an interview that the search is a measure of last resort, and that the usual course of action in this case is simply for federal government lawyers to send a letter to Trump's lawyers requesting the documentation.
"Fifth, perhaps there’s something here we don’t know—something that, once known, will clarify the reasons for the raid. If there is, the FBI needs to bring forward the justification for this unprecedented action—as soon as possible. But if there isn’t, we’ve got problems at the FBI". Donald Trump himself, in the statement he sent upon learning that the FBI was searching his home, said that such action against a former president is unprecedented.
"Sixth, classification authority belongs to the president of the United States — and NOT to bureaucrats at the National Archives." If the authority rests with President Biden, it is also worth asking whether he knew anything. The White House has stated that it was not aware of the operation. Donald Trump, for his part, has said that Biden did know, same as he knew of Hunter Biden's wanderings.
The "militarization" of the Administration
"Seventh, if this turns out to be the product of the growing political weaponization of federal law enforcement agencies, shouldn’t this incident cause all Americans to be even more outraged by the Democrats’ plan to hire an additional 87,000 agents?". Ted Cruz has said in this regard, "The Democrats are making the IRS bigger than the Pentagon, plus the State Department, plus the FBI, plus the Border Patrol combined. The IRS is going to be bigger. This is a massive power grab.
"Ninth, what should we make of the fact that this is occurring while the FBI and DOJ have taken no discernible action regarding (for example) flagrant violations of the law by (a) Hunter Biden, or (b) pro-abortion extremists threatening Supreme Court justices at their homes?". One may also ask why this action is being taken against Donald Trump and was not taken against Hillary Clinton, who also took White House papers to her home. This double standard has led some to speak of conspiracy, after verifying all the actions against the businessman and politician.
"Tenth, why should we assume that the FBI is above targeting Republicans when it creates documents like this one, which encourages agents to be suspicious of people who display the Betsy Ross Flag or the “don’t tread on me” Gadsden Flag?" The Betsy Ross flag is used to show patriotism, while the Gadsden flag symbolizes the defense of freedom. Both values are characteristic of the Republican Party.
Tenth, why should we assume that the FBI is above targeting Republicans when it creates documents like this one, which encourages agents to be suspicious of people who display the Betsy Ross Flag or the "don't tread on me" Gadsden Flag? pic.twitter.com/mUOOhHetxL
- Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 9, 2022
"Twelfth, shouldn’t all Americans be suspicious of the FBI based on its use of warrantless “backdoor searches” under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (about which Christopher Wray expressed very little concern when I questioned him at last week’s hearing)?"
