Presidential candidate Trump is seeking damages from the U.S. Department of Justice for an FBI search.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump demands high damages from the U.S. Department of Justice due to the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence about two years ago. According to information from the German Press Agency, his lawyers have submitted a corresponding claim to the authority. According to matching U.S. media reports, it is about a sum of 100 million U.S. dollars (around 91 million euros). The Department of Justice now has six months to respond to the claim.
The former president was charged last year in the affair involving the removal of secret government documents at the federal level - the responsible judge had suspended the criminal proceedings in mid-July, stating that there were doubts about the lawful appointment of the special counsel in the case. This has already been appealed.
Trump is accused of the unlawful retention of highly sensitive information from his time as president (2017 to 2021). During the investigation, the FBI raided his villa in Florida in August 2022 and seized several sets of documents classified as top secret.
Trump's lawyers cite a law that protects private individuals from damage caused by government officials in their claim for damages. They argue that the raid was politically motivated and not lawful. The procedure, they say, has not only caused significant legal costs for Trump but also damaged his reputation.
Claims of this kind are generally given low chances of success. This assessment also applies to Trump's case. So the raid on Mar-a-Lago is likely to be on solid legal ground: a federal judge approved it after months of investigations and negotiations with Trump's lawyers.
The claim submitted by Trump's lawyers seeks compensation for alleged damages to his Property, primarily due to the negative impact on his reputation following the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. Despite the law protecting private individuals from harm caused by government officials, the success of such claims is often considered low.
