Following the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in southern Florida, state lawmaker Anthony Sabatini called for the arrest of federal agents and urged the state to “sever all ties” with the Department of Justice.
Mr Trump wasn’t present at the residence at the time of the raid, instead issuing a fuming statement from Trump Tower in New York City. A lot of information concerning the raid remains unconfirmed, such as if Mr Trump was told in advance. In his statement, he called the action “unannounced”.
“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats, who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections,” Mr Trump claimed in his statement.
It’s been reported that the FBI was looking for documents Mr Trump is thought to have brought with him when he left the White House in January 2021 that should have been handed over to the National Archives.
In response to the raid, Mr Sabatini tweeted on Monday night that “it’s time for us in the Florida Legislature to call an emergency legislative session and amend our laws regarding federal agencies”.
He said the state should “sever all ties with DOJ immediately” and that “any FBI agent conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State should be arrested upon sight”.
Mr Sabatini supported Mr Trump’s efforts to change the outcome of the 2020 election and he suggested last year that US Highway 27 be renamed the “President Donald J Trump Highway”, according to The Daily Beast.
Mr Sabatini was promptly mocked by Twitter users for his outburst.
“Meet your best friend the supremacy clause, dips***. you can’t ‘sever all ties’ with the DOJ. Federal law overrules state law,” Josh Marshall of Talking Point Memo tweeted.
Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker tweeted that “every day we get closer to reaching my dream of severing ties with Florida”.
Novelist Lauren Gross added: “Man, I hope the Florida media reports on a sitting legislator from our state performing sedition in broad daylight!”
“Hey, if you want to rebel against the authority of the federal government, go nuts. Make sure your bail is ready,” broadcaster Keith Olbermann tweeted.
