(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump plans to sue the Justice Department for $100 million over its 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago property, arguing the unprecedented action was done with “clear intent to engage in political persecution.”
Trump’s lawyers confirmed the plan this week.
“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,” Trump attorney Daniel Epstein said in a statement.
In a court filing, Trump’s lawyers argued the Justice Department’s “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.”
His lawyers further argued the DOJ’s raid was conducted in a manner “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.”
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided in connection with the DOJ’s investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. The investigation led to multiple charges against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.
However, the case was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon last month after she found Smith had been illegally appointed to the role.
The DOJ’s handling of this case, including its raid on Mar-a-Lago and its illegal appointment of Smith, showed a “clear intent to engage in political persecution” by those involved, argued Trump’s attorneys.
The DOJ’s “malicious prosecution and abuse of process cause President Trump to incur, upon information and belief, $15 million in actual harm due to his legal costs” in defending himself in Smith’s case, they added. “For these harms to President Trump, the respondents must pay punitive damages of $100 million,” Trump’s team wrote.
