Former President Donald Trump intends to sue the Department of Justice for “political persecution” stemming from the 2022 raid at Mar-a-Lago, per Fox News.
The FBI raided Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, property on Aug. 8, 2022, seeking evidence regarding Trump allegedly illegally keeping classified records.
Fox News obtained a memo in which Trump claimed “tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump.”
Trump will seek $100 million in compensation for the raid and subsequent prosecution.
Trump was charged with 37 felony counts, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. The Republican nominee for president pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed all of those charges against Trump. According to Cannon, Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed.
“What President Trump is doing here is not just standing up for himself – he is standing up for all Americans who believe in the rule of law and believe that you should hold the government accountable when it wrongs you,” Trump’s attorney Daniel Epstein said in the notice to sue.
According to the filing, the “tortious acts against the president are rooted in intrusion upon seclusion, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process resulting from the August 8, 2022, raid of his and his family’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Florida.”
He added the decisions made of the DOJ and FBI regarding the raid were “inconsistent with protocols requiring the consent of an investigative target, disclosure to that individual’s attorneys, and the use of the local U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Epstein said the actions of Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray amount to “political persecution.”
Their decisions were not about “social, economic, and political policy” but instead, in “clear dereliction of constitutional principles, inconsistent standards as applied to” Trump and a “clear intent to engage in political persecution – not to advance good law enforcement practices.”
Epstein also asserted the DOJ invaded Trump’s right to privacy.
Epstein said Trump “had a clear expectation of privacy at Mar-a-Lago. Worse, the FBI’s conduct in the raid – where established protocol was violated – constitutes a severe and unacceptable intrusion that is highly offensive to a reasonable person.”
Epstein also invoked the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding a president having immunity from prosecution for official acts.
“As such, given the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the prosecution on grounds that the Special Counsel’s appointment violated the appointments clause and his office was funded through an improper appropriation, there was no constitutional basis for the search or the subsequent indictment,” Epstein said.
The Justice Department did not comment.
Epstein spoke with Fox Business about the lawsuit.
“You have clear evidence that the FBI failed to follow protocols, and the failure to follow protocols shows that there was an improper purpose,” Epstein told Fox Business.
“If the government is able
to say, well, we don’t like someone, we can raid their home, we can violate their privacy, we can breach protocols when we decide to prosecute them, we can use the process to advance our personal motive–not a motive of justice–if someone doesn’t stand against that in a very public way and seek to obtain and protect their rights, then the government will have a mandate to roughshod over every American,” he said.
Upon the date of receipt of the notice, the Justice Department has 180 days to respond and possibly reach a resolution. If no resolution is made, Trump’s case will be heard in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
