15 Quick Things to Keep in Mind About the “Raid” on Mar-a-Lago

No, it’s not fascism MAGAts. It’s called accountability

Image: DonkeyHotey, Flickr, Creative Commons license, ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Following the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, his supporters in Congress and around the country have ratcheted up the rhetoric about America becoming a police state.

Republican House members are threatening Attorney General Merrick Garland, insisting that if they recapture the House in November, they will launch an investigation into the Justice Department, presumably for abusing its power with their “raid” on Trump’s compound.

In light of these over-the-top histrionics and the predictable victim narrative being spun by Trump himself, there are some things everyone should probably keep in mind.

I know MAGA nation won’t care — cult members are beyond the reach of facts and logic. But perhaps for reasonable people, including many who consider themselves conservatives, the following things will matter.

1. The FBI cannot search your property unless a federal judge signs a warrant authorizing that search. They can’t just barge in without cause.
2. Although warrants are often obtained based on questionable claims by law enforcement, there is no evidence to suggest this was the case here.