The GOP presidential nominee’s lawyers alleged illegal conduct by the United States against the former president over the FBI search.
Former President Donald Trump has submitted a memo detailing plans to sue the Department of Justice (DOJ) for $100 million in damages over the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago property in 2022, claiming that it was conducted in an illegal manner.
The administrative claim was submitted on Aug. 7 under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows private citizens to sue the U.S. government for an alleged infringement of a right.
It alleges that the government violated the former president’s rights during the August 2022 search of his property that resulted in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents.
“Operational level decisions … made by Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray” were “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,” according to the memo, obtained by The Epoch Times on Aug. 12.
Actions carried out by Garland and Wray, the memo said, “were not discretionary but required as a matter of procedure and under the Constitution.”
It added that the two “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.”
Trump will seek $100 million for the alleged damages that resulted from the Mar-a-Lago search and $15 million for legal costs that he subsequently paid to defend himself, according to the notice.
Wray, Garland, the FBI, and the DOJ haven’t issued public comments on the memo as of the afternoon of Aug. 12. A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment on the memo to The Epoch Times
Daniel Epstein, Trump’s attorney, filed the notice with the DOJ on Aug. 12, giving the agency 180 days to respond and provide a resolution. If there is none, Trump will file a lawsuit or take other legal action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the notice said.
