Texas GOP leaders decry Mar-a-Lago raid: 'This weaponizes power to squelch dissent'

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a raid on Monday on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to an Associated Press (AP) report that was ran by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

FBI agents searched the $160 million property as part of an investigation into whether Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, possessed classified documents from the White House, with some Texas Republican leaders decrying the development and comparing it to the actions Richard Nixon took in the wake of the Watergate Scandal nearly 50 years ago.

Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter to decry the search as “next-level Nixonian.”

“Never before has the country seen an administration go to such extent to use the levers of government to target a former president and political rival,” Abbott, who is running for a third term and has secured an endorsement from Trump, tweeted. “This weaponizes power to squelch dissent. Such abuses must have limits.”

According to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), what occurred at Mar-a-Lago was unprecedented.

“It is corrupt [and] an abuse of power,” the junior senator, a foe-turned-friend of Trump’s, tweeted. “What Nixon tried to do, Biden has now implemented: The Biden admin has fully weaponized DOJ [and] FBI to target their political enemies.”

Cruz further asserted that the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) plan to hire a nearly additional 90,000 workers is part of the White House’s supposed misuse of power.

Citing ABC News, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that the search began at 10 a.m. Eastern but Trump was absent from the property.

The former commander in chief issued a statement in response to the raid, per the report.

“This unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump’s statement read, according to ABC News.

Federal law prohibits classified documents being taken to unauthorized locations, the report said.