OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Vice President Kamala Harris has broken her silence since the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
She was aboard Air Force Two when reporters asked her about the raid and on the suspect who attempted to breach the FBI Cincinnati field office.
“I know that you’ve been very busy today, but as a former prosecutor, do you have any reaction to the unsealed search warrant that was served on President Donald Trump?” a reporter said.
“Well, as a former prosecutor, I will tell you, I don’t speak about anybody else’s case. But I have full confidence that the Department of Justice will do what the facts and the law requires,” the vice president said.
“How about some of the rhetoric that’s coming out from Trump’s allies? Do you have any reaction to the attempted attack on a FBI field office yesterday?” the reporter said.
“I will say, as a former prosecutor, but as a citizen of our nation, any attacks on law enforcement are completely unacceptable. And any so-called leader who engages in rhetoric that in any way suggests that that law enforcement should be exposed to that kind of danger is irresponsible and can result in dangerous activities,” the vice president said.
“You know, our law enforcement professionals — and, in this case, we’re talking about our federal law enforcement agencies — they do very important work. And from the moment they walk out the door of their home until they go back in, their families pray for their safety and well-being.
“And I think it’s just highly irresponsible of anyone who calls themselves a leader and certainly anyone who represents the United States of America to engage in rhetoric for the sake of some political objective that can result in harm to law enforcement officers and agents,” she said.
Late Friday, the FBI finally revealed what more than two dozen agents took from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate during a raid on Monday.
According to reports, agents recovered 11 sets of documents that were marked as classified, including some that were labeled “Top Secret.”
That said, Trump noted on his Truth Social platform on Friday that he, as president, had already declassified the documents that were confiscated by agents.
“Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn’t need to “seize” anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request,” the former president posted.
“They could have had it anytime they wanted—and that includes LONG ago. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ASK. The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?” he continued.
“President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!” Trump wrote in another post.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The list includes references to one set of documents marked as ‘Various classified/TS/SCI documents,’ an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information.
“It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn’t provide any more details about the substance of the documents,” the Journal added.
“The warrant said investigators were seeking all records that could be evidence of violations of laws governing the gathering, transmitting or losing of classified information; the removal of official government records; and the destruction of records in a federal investigation,” the paper continued.
The report said that in all, agents removed around 20 boxes of materials.
They included “binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the ‘President of France,’” the paper continued.
“Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that the former president used his authority to declassify the material before he left office. While a president has the power to declassify documents, there are federal regulations that lay out a process for doing so.”
