Donald Trump is planning to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) for its 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago.
Trump is suing for $100 million in damages.
According to a memo obtained by Fox News, the DOJ engaged in “tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump.”
Trump’s lawyers have argued that the raid was carried out with “clear intent to engage in political persecution.”
According to Daniel Epstein, one of Trump’s lawyers, Trump 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 wrote in the filing that FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland “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.”
“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,” he wrote, adding, “Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump.”
Epstein noted that the FBI’s conduct “constitutes a severe and unacceptable intrusion that is highly offensive to a reasonable person.”
He further argued that there was an “abuse of process,” explaining that the actions taken against Trump were “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,” the filing reads.
