Legal expert slaps down right-wing hysteria over FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in Fox News column

An op-ed published by Fox News on Monday argues that the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago was justified despite the rhetoric from Donald Trump and the GOP.

FBI agents raided the Palm Beach residence on Aug. 8 after obtaining a search warrant and removed several boxes of classified documents that Trump had taken from the White House. In an opinion piece by Bradley P. Moss, he said the FBI search was warranted and noted the hysteria by conservatives in the aftermath.

"Ever since news broke two weeks ago that the FBI had executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, the political world has been aflame with hyperbole, accusations, innuendo, and hysteria," he wrote. "Every legal pundit and pundits pretending to know something about the law have emerged to try and explain what is really happening here. And the former president and his allies, as is their custom, have sought to flood the zone with political justifications and haphazard legal explanations to deflect from his conduct."

Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security, went on to say that the truth needed to be told while noting the FBI raid was not political persecution. "The truth needs to be set forth plainly and simply, and so let’s get down to brass tacks here. What happened on August 8, 2022, was not tyranny. It was not political persecution. It was not a minor dust up over bureaucratic processes blown out of proportion. It was the criminal justice system operating just like it does with any other private citizen on any other given day ending in a 'y.'"

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The twice-impeached former president claimed that the FBI search of his residence was "not necessary or appropriate."

"Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before," said Trump. "After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also condemned the Mar-a-Lago search and posted a tweet calling for the FBI to be defunded while Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called the search "a complete abuse and overreach of its authority."

"You cannot remove properly marked classified documents and place them in a location not authorized for retention of classified documents," Moss continued. "You cannot obstruct a federal investigation seeking to lawfully recover those documents. You cannot present false statements to federal investigators."