Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Slams FBI Over Trump Raid

The Florida governor called the search "another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents."
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday evening criticized the FBI raid into former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and home.

DeSantis said the search was politically motivated, claiming the Biden administration was using federal agencies to target its rivals.

“The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

Trump confirmed federal agents had searched his home, including his safe, in a statement.

“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”

While it is still unclear what exactly prompted the raid, The New York Times said the search was apparently related to documents the former president took with him to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House in January 2021.

Congressional Republicans also vowed revenge over the search, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) claiming the DOJ “has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”

McCarthy also told Punchbowl News he intends to create an investigative committee to look into the DOJ’s actions if the Republicans take back the House in November.

DeSantis is seen as the leading Republican contender to primary Trump in 2024, though neither has officially announced their candidacy. Meanwhile, DeSantis is running for reelection in Florida this November.

Trump on Saturday won an unofficial Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll looking at which candidate attendees preferred as the Republican nominee in 2024. Trump was favored by 69% of participants, while DeSantis came in a distant second with 24% of the vote, according to CNN.

Trump has in the past taken credit for DeSantis’ popularity and said it was his endorsement that propelled DeSantis to victory in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.

“When he ran for governor, as you know, he was running and then he came to me for an endorsement because he was not, you know, he was at three percent,” Trump told New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi last month.

Trump continued: “The race was over, and I think Ron knows that better than anybody.”

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