Republicans dust off familiar playbook to weaponise Mar-a-Lago FBI search

Analysis: GOP accusations of ‘deep state’ and politicization of justice department likely to foment an intense backlash

Jupiter resident Kathy Luksch, right, stands with others gathered to support former President Donald Trump on South Ocean Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. Picture: Andres Leiva/The Palm Beach Post via AP

A bitterly polarised reaction to an FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday threatened to enflame America’s political divisions.

The former president said agents “raided” his Florida resort and broke into his safe, a stunning turn of events apparently linked to a justice department investigation of his removal of official presidential records.