Former president Donald Trump is set to file a $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department over the FBI’s unprecedented raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate two summers ago, a highly controversial move that preceded special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against him.
Trump’s attorneys filed a notice to sue the Justice Department, arguing that the raid amounted to political persecution and constitutes “tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump,” Fox News first reported.
The Justice Department has 180 days to respond to the notice and come to a resolution.
Trump’s attorney Daniel Epstein said in the filing “tortious acts against the president are rooted in intrusion upon seclusion, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process resulting from the August 8, 2022 raid,” and claimed the Trump raid violated Florida privacy law.
“The FBI’s demonstrated activity was inconsistent with protocols used in routine searches of an investigative target’s premises,” Epstein asserted, adding that 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.”
Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon threw out the classified-documents case against Trump last month, ruling that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed. The Justice Department is keeping the case in Smith’s hands and appealing Cannon’s ruling.
Her decision followed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in Trump’s presidential immunity case that suggested Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional under the appointments clause. The high court ruled last month that Trump has presidential immunity for official acts, and pushed his January 6 case back to a lower court. Smith is prosecuting Trump in D.C. on charges related to his alleged involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Trump was indicted on 40 charges last year of willfully retaining national defense information, obstruction of justice, false statements, and attempting to delete records. Of those charges against Trump, 31 were filed under the espionage act for allegedly possessing military secrets. Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges and routinely criticizes Smith for waging a politicized prosecution. It is unlikely that Trump will stand trial in either of Smith’s cases before Election Day.
“President Trump is continuing to fight against blatant Election Interference by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to National Review. “As the complaint powerfully details, the raid on Mar-a-Lago was Illegal and Unconstitutional, as are all of the Democrat Witch Hunts that are now falling apart like the rotten house of cards that they are, and which should be immediately dismissed in order to bring unity back to our Nation.”