Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Trump’s shifting explanations after Mar-a-Lago raid match how he kept changing his story about Jan. 6, Adam Kinzinger says<!-- wp:html --><p>Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., speaks as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol holds a hearing on July 21, 2022.</p> <p class="copyright">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</p> <p>Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Donald Trump's claims about the FBI search of his property are "evolving." <br /> He likened it to Trump's changing claims about the Jan. 6 riot as more evidence emerged.<br /> Kinzinger is one of two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee. </p> <p>Rep. Adam Kinzinger said that Trump's changing claims around the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago property mirror the way his account of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shifted over time — and shows that he is not telling the truth. </p> <p>In a n<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/shows/situation-room">interview on CNN's "Situation Room" Monday</a>, Kinzinger addressed the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-fbi-search-warrant-donald-trump-mar-a-lago-2022-8?r=US&IR=T">August 8 FBI search of Trump's Florida</a> resort that has caused a political firestorm.</p> <p>Kinzinger who is one of two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee and has long been a vocal Trump critic.</p> <p>Trump initially claimed that the search of Mar-a-Lago was politically motivated and that the FBI may have even planted evidence.</p> <p>But after the Justice Department on Friday unsealed the warrant used in the search, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-claims-standing-order-automatically-declassify-docs-2022-8?r=US&IR=T">revealing that investigators believe he may have violated the Espionage Act,</a> his position shifted and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-claims-standing-order-automatically-declassify-docs-2022-8?r=US&IR=T">his main defense became that he had already</a> declassified the documents. </p> <p>In the interview, host Wolf Blitzer asked Kinzinger about the explanations Trump has offered about why secret documents were found in the search, at which point Kinzinger linked it to Trump's approach to January 6.</p> <p>"The explanations from Donald Trump fearing stuff was planted, to all of a sudden saying he just, like, mentally declassified this stuff to saying, well, people take work home all the time, I mean, just like anything, just like Jan. 6, when it started as an Antifa operation, then it was the FBI, and then it was really just a bunch of tourists, and then it was a bunch of people that were misunderstood."</p> <p>"There is always an evolving explanation, but that evolving explanation is always a lie, and it points to the fact that Donald Trump knew what he was doing," Kinzinger concluded. "So I don't know the details of the raid. But it certainly seems like Donald Trump's explanation is not accurate."</p> <p>The Justice Department and National Archive were involved with Trump voluntarily returning one stash of 15 boxes of documents earlier in 2022.</p> <p>But, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-allies-think-traitor-informed-on-trump-to-fbi-axios-2022-8?r=US&IR=T">according to reports</a>, officials came to believe that Trump had held back some documents, prompting them to take a more drastic approach. </p> <p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jan-6-panel-trump-broke-laws-riot-2020-election-lost-2022-6?r=US&IR=T">Jan.6 committee is conducting a separate investigation</a> into whether Trump may have violated the law in pushing baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.</p> <p>Its members have argued strongly that Trump is personally responsible for the violence that day from his supporters in Washington, DC, who attacked the US Capitol.</p> <div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-changing-story-on-fbi-search-like-jan-6-kinzinger-2022-8">Business Insider</a></div><!-- /wp:html -->

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., speaks as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol holds a hearing on July 21, 2022.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Donald Trump’s claims about the FBI search of his property are “evolving.” 
He likened it to Trump’s changing claims about the Jan. 6 riot as more evidence emerged.
Kinzinger is one of two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee. 

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said that Trump’s changing claims around the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago property mirror the way his account of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shifted over time — and shows that he is not telling the truth. 

In a ninterview on CNN’s “Situation Room” Monday, Kinzinger addressed the August 8 FBI search of Trump’s Florida resort that has caused a political firestorm.

Kinzinger who is one of two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee and has long been a vocal Trump critic.

Trump initially claimed that the search of Mar-a-Lago was politically motivated and that the FBI may have even planted evidence.

But after the Justice Department on Friday unsealed the warrant used in the search, revealing that investigators believe he may have violated the Espionage Act, his position shifted and his main defense became that he had already declassified the documents. 

In the interview, host Wolf Blitzer asked Kinzinger about the explanations Trump has offered about why secret documents were found in the search, at which point Kinzinger linked it to Trump’s approach to January 6.

“The explanations from Donald Trump fearing stuff was planted, to all of a sudden saying he just, like, mentally declassified this stuff to saying, well, people take work home all the time, I mean, just like anything, just like Jan. 6, when it started as an Antifa operation, then it was the FBI, and then it was really just a bunch of tourists, and then it was a bunch of people that were misunderstood.”

“There is always an evolving explanation, but that evolving explanation is always a lie, and it points to the fact that Donald Trump knew what he was doing,” Kinzinger concluded. “So I don’t know the details of the raid. But it certainly seems like Donald Trump’s explanation is not accurate.”

The Justice Department and National Archive were involved with Trump voluntarily returning one stash of 15 boxes of documents earlier in 2022.

But, according to reports, officials came to believe that Trump had held back some documents, prompting them to take a more drastic approach.

The Jan.6 committee is conducting a separate investigation into whether Trump may have violated the law in pushing baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Its members have argued strongly that Trump is personally responsible for the violence that day from his supporters in Washington, DC, who attacked the US Capitol.

Read the original article on Business Insider

By