Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele defended the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s home in a Monday tweet, arguing it was not a random move.
“Trump failed to return classified docs requested by the National Archives,” Steele wrote in response to a tweet by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
“A federal judge issued a search warrant for probable cause of a crime. This is not some rando move by the FBI so you shitforbrains Republicans calling for ‘defunding the FBI’ for once try to be less stupid,” Steele wrote.
Republicans have generally reacted with fury to the news about the FBI raid.
“Defund the FBI!” Greene tweeted on Monday evening.
Trump announced himself on Monday evening that a “large group” of FBI agents were raiding Mar-a-Lago and broke into his safe, calling it not “appropriate” and saying it was unannounced.
The search appears to be the first of its kind against a former president.
Eric Trump, the former president’s son, told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the search was focused on documents sought by the National Archives.
The National Archives reportedly previously asked the Department of Justice to examine the former president’s handling of records at the end of his term after classified information was recovered that Trump should have turned over.
Greene was one of many Republicans angered by the news, with many echoing the former president’s statement that the agency had been weaponized for political reasons. Senate Republican leadership, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have largely remained quiet on the raid.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chair of the Republican Study Committee, will lead a group of conservatives to meet with Trump on Tuesday at his property in Bedminster, N.J.