FBI raid on Trump's home ignites political firestorm

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden had no advance notice of the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Florida residence

Top Republican leaders flung their support behind former US president Donald Trump on Tuesday after an extraordinary FBI raid on his palatial Florida residence sparked a political firestorm in an already bitterly divided country.

The FBI move marked a stunning escalation of legal probes into the 45th president and comes as he is weighing another White House run.

"Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before," Trump said of the FBI operation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach.

At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden did not have any advance notice about the raid and respected the independence of the Justice Department.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is led by Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, declined to provide a reason for the raid.

Trump has also faced intense legal scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

A day after the  raid on Mar-A-Lago, US Representative Scott Perry -- a Trump ally -- said that FBI agents had confiscated his cell phone, but did not specify why it was taken.

- Allies rally round -

Trump's former vice president Mike Pence, a potential 2024 rival, expressed "deep concern" and said the raid smacked of "partisanship" by the Justice Department.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said "launching an investigation of a former president this close to an election is beyond problematic."

"If the FBI can raid a US President, imagine what they can do to you," Stefanik tweeted, to which Democratic Representative Ted Lieu replied: "Why can't the FBI investigate a US President? We're not Russia, where the law doesn't apply to the head of state and his cronies."

- Presidential paperwork -

Andrew McCabe, a former FBI deputy director, told CNN that agents may have been looking for "something specific" related to the probe into the handling of classified information.

The recovery of the boxes raised questions about Trump's adherence to presidential records laws enacted after the 1970s Watergate scandal that require Oval Office occupants to preserve records.

"If it's seen as some sort of massive overreach and not something incredibly serious, this is a very good day for Donald Trump," Farah Griffin said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been repeatedly pushed over whether the Justice Department is building a case against Trump over the Capitol riot.

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Originally published as FBI raid on Trump's home ignites political firestorm