On Monday August 8^th, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) committed another unconstitutional search and seizure. This time the Justice Department initiated an unprecedented search on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Logo home in an attempt to find evidence of violations of the Presidential Records Act. The warrant for this search has not been made public but it is believed to have been presented on behalf of Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray and signed by Florida magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart. Reinhart contributed to Obama’s campaign and represented key employees of Jeffrey Epstein in a controversial immunity deal that they received.

Donald Trump and his staff cooperated with the FBI for over a month. Nevertheless, the FBI executed a secret search, instructed the staff to turn off surveillance, and broke into the former President’s safe looking for papers that they suspect Trump had in his possession. The political fishing expedition highlights a constitutional crisis that Americans have unknowingly been immersed in for many decades.

The seizure of papers at Mar-A-Lago was conducted with a search warrant on an unindicted individual, which was an abuse of power that conflicted with the 4^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. IF the FBI had significant evidence of a crime, why didn’t they seek an indictment and make an arrest? If the federal government can simply break into anyone’s house looking for evidence of a crime, then political witch hunts will become commonplace throughout America. Such a “pre-arrest” search and seizure is unreasonable. The FBI’s actions deny the victim due process under the 10^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

When courts have allowed this type of unconstitutional searching to stand, Americans have accepted the rulings rather than initiate impeachment activities against the judge who signed the warrant. For far too long Americans have been lax in protecting our rights. This has set the stage for political witch hunts that are typically found in countries that do not share our history of protecting the liberties of their citizens. Much has to change to preserve our freedoms.