On August 8, 2022, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida residence.  Such an act against any president, past or present, has never been done before.  The FBI served their warrant, searched the Trump family home, and even pried his safe open.  They found...nothing.  Not even Ashley Biden's lost diary.

What was Donald Trump's supposed crime that justified such an extreme measure?

• Bribery?  Nope, that's a Biden thing.
• Treason?  Nope.
• Assault (perhaps on a Secret Service agent)?  Nope.
• Espionage?  Nope, that's a Swalwell thing.
• Cutting the tags off pillows?  Nope.

The feds were looking for classified documents from when Trump occupied the Oval Office, which should have been turned over to the National Archives.  Those would be the same documents that have already been declassified and that the Trump people are currently reviewing with the National Archive people to figure out if they should be returned or not.

The Clinton administration provides a good point of comparison.  Bill Clinton's former national security adviser, Sandy Berger, smuggled documents out of the National Archives in his pants and then destroyed them.  It is believed that the documents would have embarrassed President Clinton during the 9/11 investigation.  Was Berger's home searched?  Nope.  Did he go to jail?  Nope, he was sentenced to...community service.  Does anybody think Merrick Garland has community service in mind for Donald Trump?

An FBI application for a search warrant requires an affidavit from an agent swearing under oath to the need and circumstances for a warrant.  According to Alan Dershowitz, to get a warrant, there should be no less intrusive means to obtain the evidence — like asking for it from a subject who is already cooperating with the investigation.  Alternatively, there could be an immediate danger of evidence being destroyed — while being reviewed by other federal employees.  Sure.  But when working with a magistrate who was formerly employed by Jeffery Epstein, the FBI may have ways to get around those little formalities.

In other words, there was no rational reason to execute a search warrant on Trump's home.  This also means that the FBI most certainly lied on the affidavit for the warrant — as they have a history of doing.  Kevin Clinesmith has forever tainted the FBI's credibility on such matters.

I suspect that when the search warrant is reviewed by congressional investigators — and it will be — we will see proof of what we already suspect.  The raid was an outrageous act, by a rogue federal agency, in service to a corrupt administration.

Putting aside the legality of the whole thing, I have a bunch of questions.

• Did President "Return to Normalcy" approve this, or is America now run by a shadow government?  Biden claims he didn't know about the raid.  If true, that's even scarier than the raid.
• Has Merrick Garland erased any doubt that the Deep State is a genuine threat to our republic?
• Is there any need for more evidence to fire Chris Wray and impeach Merrick Garland?
• Has anyone made a stronger argument than Merrick Garland for limited government?
• Does this raid undermine or reinforce the notion that we now have a two-tiered justice system?
• If searches of ex-presidents are now accepted practice, who has the most to hide: Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, or Joe "Ten Percent for the Big Guy" Biden?  It's a valid question because they're all fair game now.
• Is it just a coincidence that Director Wray cut his Senate testimony short, and skedaddled out of Washington just days before the raid?  Might he have been worried about a leak concerning the raid while he was still seated before Senator Grassley?
• Do we have enough now to at least start talking seriously about disbanding the FBI?
• Is this the "return to normalcy" that the Democrats promised us?
• Has this action "red-pilled" any traditional Democrat voters? Has this action shamed any of them, similar to how the FBI has shamed former agents?
• Will this raid encourage or discourage Democrat voters from going to the polls in November?
• Has this action gotten any independent voters off of the fence?  If so, are they likely to fall left or right after news of the raid?
• Are people suffering through stagflation getting sick of the Democrat party's obsession with the last election?
• Will this raid enhance or poison future legislative cooperation?
• Will this be the "crossing of the Rubicon" that actually forces RINOs to take a side?
• Did the NeverTrumps not see the character of the people they were climbing into bed with?  Do they see now that they should have used protection?
• Is this the kind of banana republic b------- that the NeverTrumps meant to unleash on America when they sided with the Dems?
• Where do the NeverTrumps stand on the raid?  Are they against or in support of the action?  Do they have any principles left, or has hatred burned their consciences to ashes?
• What is Liz Cheney's position on the raid?  Does her hatred of Trump outweigh her love of country?  I have the same question for Kevin "Real Man" Costner and Senator Pierre Delecto.
• Has this raid increased or decreased the likelihood that The Donald will run again?  I'm sure the Dems have contemplated this question a lot.
• Has this raid increased or decreased the likelihood of The Donald being re-elected?  I'm pretty sure the Dems didn't spend much time thinking this one out.
• Did the Dems consider that this action might actually help to rehabilitate Trump's image?  They created an America in which victimhood is admired — and they just made Trump public victim number one.
• Has Merrick Garland converted Trump from a mean-tweeting ogre to a sympathetic martyr yet?
• Could the Biden administration have possibly done anything more potent to maximize Republican turnout in November?
• Has this angered average Americans?  If so, how are they likely to respond?  Did the Dems devote even one brain cell to that question?

These are not rhetorical questions.  I have suspicions about the answers — but I don't know for sure.  I am pretty sure the Democrats don't know, either — which makes this raid seem all the more desperate.

Tell me again how MAGA isn't winning. If the sun were really setting on MAGA, would the left and its servants in the Deep State be acting like this?  Desperation is never a sign of strength or confidence.

One thing is certain: Merrick Garland just took a sledgehammer to Pandora's box.  I suspect we'll learn what the contents are in a few months.  I'm guessing that Pandora has a better Election Day surprise for conservatives than liberals, but we'll see.

We live in interesting times.  Our generation will be witness to either the rebirth or the death of a great nation.  The way it goes depends on us.

John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho.  He has written for American Thinker, American Free News Network, and The Blue State Conservative.  He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.

Image: Ninian Reid via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).