Former President Donald Trump is set to sue the U.S. Department of Justice over its decision to raid Mar-a-Lago in 2022, citing malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
Fox News, who obtained the legal memo, reported that Trump attorney Daniel Epstein filed the notice to sue the DOJ. It has 180 days from the date of receipt to respond to Epstein’s notice and come to a resolution. If no resolution is made, Trump’s case will move to federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
“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,” Epstein told Fox Business.
The filing argues that 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.” It added that the DOJ and FBI’s decision to go through with the raid was “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.”
It continues to argue that the decisions made by Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray were not grounded in “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.”
“Garland and Wray should have never approved a raid and subsequent indictment of President Trump because the well-established protocol with former U.S. presidents is to use non-enforcement means to obtain records of the United States,” the memo said. “But notwithstanding the fact that the raid should have never occurred, Garland and Wray should have ensured their agents sought consent from President Trump, notified his lawyers, and sought cooperation.”
“Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump,” it added.
Epstein also mentioned in the memo about “malicious prosecution.” He wrote that the Justice Department and the special counsel’s office “brought a lawless criminal indictment” against Trump. Epstein pointed to the Supreme Court’s ruling that a president has 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,” the memo read.
Additionally, Epstein argued that there was an “abuse of process” against Trump that was “unconstitutional and aimed at politically persecuting the former President, which led to extensive legal costs and negative consequences for him.”
“For these harms to President Trump, the respondents must pay punitive damages of $100 million,” Epstein wrote in the memo.
Florida Republicans expressed their outrage over the raid of Trump’s South Florida residence, especially after it was found that the FBI had issued the use of “deadly force” during the incident.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi responded to claims made by the department that the use of “deadly force” is a standard protocol for raids during a Fox & Friends First interview.
“I’ve been part of executing multiple search warrants, nothing of this was standard,” she argued. “It was a siege by land, by sea, by air of Mar-A-Lago, there were other federal agents there, and nothing about this was normal.”
“Yet we’ve heard now that there could have been medics and EMS there in case there could have been a shootout,” she added.
Bondi emphasized how if it were a serious situation, the FBI would have communicated and been on the same page with the Secret Service.
She said Mar-a-Lago is one of the most secure places in the country, outside of the White House.