A federal judge signed off on a first last Monday when he allowed the FBI to perform a search at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The significance of this event has caused elected officials from both parties to speak out.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to the search by calling it a raid and an overreach of federal power. “The raid of Mar-a-Lago is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents,” DeSantis said. 

This response from DeSantis mirrors the opinions of many allies of President Trump as they feel the FBI could have handled the search with more secrecy and respect for the former president. 

Others are defending the search by saying that Trump should be held accountable if he took classified material from the White House. 

Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York said, “Presidents have a solemn duty to protect America’s national security, and allegations that former President Trump put our security at risk by mishandling classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny.”

The investigation is currently ongoing, but the search warrant and a list of what was taken from Trump’s residence were unsealed on Friday.       According to AP News, FBI agents took 11 boxes of classified material from the Mar-a-Lago estate. 

The original warrant cites that the agents had probable cause to believe the residence was housing materials that would show that Trump violated three different federal laws, including the Espionage Act. 

The National Archives, which houses all official documents of past presidents, alerted federal officials to these missing documents as early as February of this year, according to CNN. Trump was compliant with the request for documents originally, but he did not send in these boxes from Mar-a-Lago, causing the FBI to take action. 

The investigation into the role Trump played in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building is still ongoing. With the added investigation from this FBI search, Trump’s political future looks to be on the fence.  

No charges have been brought against Trump, but if the investigation finds him guilty of violating these laws, Trump faces a possible prison sentence.