Image source, REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Daniel Lippman, Politico's White House and Washington reporter, has been explaining presidential archive law to the BBC's World at One.

"Just because you leave office, doesn't mean that the papers you've worked on are yours," he says.

Lippman says for historical purposes former presidents are obliged to turn presidential documents over.

"When Obama left office in 2017, he didn't take boxes and boxes of stuff," Lippman says.

Former President Donald Trump's son Eric earlier told Fox News that his father saves clippings - such as press articles or "notes from us".

However, Lippman dismisses these comments and says the FBI isn't searching for press clippings but are looking for government documents - "who knows what's in those documents," he says.

Lippman also calls the National Archives a "non-partisan institution" and says it referred this matter to the US Department of Justice.

"Trump had many opportunities to give up all the documents," he says, adding he believes Trump did give up 15 boxes, but "the FBI must have realised there's more in there".

Gary O'Donoghue
Washington Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

We don't know what the FBI were looking for, but the judiciary don't issue search warrants on a whim or so agents can go on a fishing exercise.

There has to be credible evidence of a crime - and the judge has to be satisfied a search of that specific property could turn it up.

As to which crime the search involves - that's a question we don’t know the answer to and the justice department isn't saying.

One possibility is the mishandling of classified documents during the Trump administration, or after he left office and the White House and headed to Florida, which a grand jury is already looking into. That can carry a three-year jail term.

Legal jeopardy is of course bad news for the former president, but don't believe for a minute this isn't also an enormous political opportunity - a shot in the arm Trump relishes as he contemplates another run at the White House.

One look at his statement demonstrates the point - it is Vintage Trump.

All the familiar buttons get pressed: Witch hunts, hoaxes, political persecution, steeped in the familiar, superlative-laden language of the outsider pursued by a corrupt state.

It's already galvanised senior Republicans to threaten investigations into the justice department if they take back Congress in November's elections.

Strap yourself in: The Trump show is back on the road.

Image source, Reuters

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is reportedly trying to leverage anger over the FBI's search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate to generate fundraising for Republican Party candidates.

Speaking to Fox News, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel cited a fundraising disadvantage for her party’s Senate candidates, when asked how the party should respond to the search of Trump’s residence.

“We have to take the reins of power back,” McDaniel said. “The only way we can stop them is by winning the House and the Senate... Anybody listening, you’ve got to engage in a campaign.”

She named several Republican Senate candidates who could use the money, including JD Vance in Ohio, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Adam Laxalt in Nevada.

“President Trump is right when he compared this to Watergate,” McDaniel said. “This is truly frightening. It’s not what our democracy stands for.”

Image source, Reuters

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has agreed the FBI search on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home is a "pretty serious step", and says not even a former president is "above the law."

In an interview with NBC, Pelosi disputes comments by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said Republicans would investigate the Department of Justice over the search "when Republicans take back the House" in the upcoming midterm elections, with Pelosi claiming Democrats would win the House.

"But nonetheless, we believe in the rule of law, and that's what our country is about and no person is above the law, not even the president of the United States, not even a former president of the United States," she says.

It's just after 9:00 local time in New York City and members of the media have been gathering outside Trump Tower.

Former US President Donald Trump, who owns the skyscraper, was in the tower when the FBI search took place at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Katty Kay
US special correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Incensed Trump supporters are threatening civil war on social media.

That sounds ominous but is unlikely. So how does this change the political calculus here?

The raid will likely galvanise Trump’s base to turn out and vote Republican in November’s midterm elections.

It could prompt Trump himself to declare his candidacy for the presidency early, out of pique if nothing else.

Trump supporters believe it’s good for them - they are fundraising off the raid.

For Democrats the consequences are murky. They may relish the idea of Trump being in serious legal jeopardy but this week they hoped the headlines would all be about their legislative success in passing a major climate and spending package.

The story has moved on. It’s too soon to fully understand the political fallout of this unprecedented move but it is clear it will raise the already febrile political temperature in the country.

I did spend a lot of time this summer with people who do indeed believe a civil war is coming, while filming a documentary for the BBC on the state of US democracy.

Altough he has not confirmed it, Trump has hinted he may run for president again in 2024. But since Monday's FBI search at his home, some commentators have said he could be barred from doing so.

That's because it's been suggested he could be disqualified from holding public office if he is found guilty of a crime over his handling of government records.

Section 2071 of Title 18 of the United States Code says:

• It’s a crime if someone who has custody of government documents or records “willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies or destroys” them
• If convicted, defendants can be fined or sentenced to prison for up to three years
• If they are currently in a federal office, they “shall forfeit” that office, and they shall “be disqualified from holding any office under the United States”

But it's not quite that straightforward. The Constitution only has three legal requirements for a president - they must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older. And a Supreme Court ruling has suggested Congress cannot change this. That law we mentioned earlier - Section 2071 of Title 18 of the United States Code? Well that was passed by Congress.

This was previously debated by legal experts when Hillary Clinton was running for president against Donald Trump in 2016. She had been investigated over the use of a private email server for work while she was secretary of state. But she never faced criminal charges so the idea that she could be disqualified from the election race was not tested.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has hopes to be president again, but he faces a number of legal issues - here's a quick summary of his main challenges.

Handling of White House papers

Trump took government documents home to Mar-a-Lago when he left office. Under the Presidential Records Act, removing official records may constitute a criminal offence.

Riots at the US Capitol

The former president stands accused of inciting an "insurrection" when he made unfounded claims of election fraud. The events that led to the Capitol riots are still being investigated and could lead to criminal charges.

Election interference

Did Trump try to tamper with the state of Georgia's election results? A phone call he made saying "I just want to find 11,780 votes" is the focus of an investigation.

Financial affairs

Tax and bank fraud allegations in New York have been pored over by lawyers for years. One of the alleged crimes includes inflating the value of assets to obtain loans, a type of fraud which can carry prison sentences.

Sexual misconduct

Columnist E Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s - his response of "It never happened, OK?" and calling her a liar has led to a defamation case scheduled for 2023.

Read more about the investigations Trump is facing here.

An American history professor has said there is "no precedent" for a former president facing an FBI raid, even going back to the Watergate scandal - when five men with links to the White House broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, launching a scandal that eventually led to President Richard Nixon resigning.

Thomas Schwartz, a professor at Vanderbilt University who studies and writes about the presidency, said Nixon wasn’t allowed to take tapes or other materials from the White House when he resigned in 1974.

Many of Nixon's papers remained in Washington for years before being transferred to his presidential library in California, Schwartz said.

“This is different and it is a sign of how unique the Trump period was... how his behaviour was so unusual," Schwartz told the Associated Press news agency.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, or need a refresher on what's been going on, here's a quick guide to what's happened in Florida and who's said what.

The search: Former US President Donald Trump has said Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home, has been raided by the FBI, and that agents broke open a safe. The search was reportedly connected to an investigation into the former president's handling of official papers.

What else does Trump say? "These are dark times for our nation," he has said in a statement. , external"Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before." He blames "Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for president in 2024".

What does the White House say? A senior White House official has told CBS that President Joe Biden's administration was given no notice of the FBI search.

And what is the expert view? There has never been a search warrant quite like this in American history, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg says, explaining his office was not notified in advance.

And former district attorney Wendy Olson says: "It’s hard to believe... that federal law enforcement... would take these extraordinary steps if there wasn’t substantial evidence.”

Earlier, we heard from Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach, where the Mar-a-Lago compound is based. We have more on what he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the search, which he says is “unprecedented in American history”:

Aronberg also told Today he believes Trump will use the raid to portray himself as a martyr and take attention away from the governor of Florida, a potential rival for the Republican presidential candidacy.

Image source, Reuters

Federal law enforcement organisations such as the FBI are able to request a search warrant from a US court to help a criminal investigation.

The FBI can do this if it has reason to believe information related to an investigation can be found at a person's home or is in danger of being destroyed.

However, there are certain requirements that need to be met for a search warrant to be legal:

• It has to be signed and authorised by a judge or magistrate
• The FBI would have had to demonstrate "probable cause", external and show that evidence of illegality is likely to be found
• Search warrants also need to explain where the search will happen "with particularity" and also the nature of the search
• The warrant must be signed by a "neutral and detached" magistrate or judge
• A search is unlawful if the warrant doesn't show evidence of possible illegality or explain what will be searched - this is to protect a person's Fourth Amendment rights, which covers the right to be "secure" at home from "unreasonable searches and seizures"

• A warrant is only used when "it appears that the use of a subpoena, summons, request, or other less intrusive alternative means of obtaining the materials would substantially jeopardise the availability or usefulness of the materials sought", according to the US Department of Justice website

Supporters of Donald Trump have taken to the streets after the former US president said the FBI raided his Florida home.

Speaking outside Mar-a-Lago, one woman said the FBI was being "weaponised" against Trump.

As we've been reporting, Mar-a-Lago, the primary residence of former US President Donald Trump, in Palm Beach, Florida, has been searched by federal agents.

Trump has said his residence was being "raided" by FBI agents, in what he called an act of "prosecutorial misconduct".

This aerial footage shows the scene outside the property last night.

Donald Trump's properties aren't exactly famous for their pared-back interiors. And Mar-a-Lago doesn't seem to be any different.

Decades before becoming president, he opened the doors of his Florida home to TV cameras.

We take a peek at the property where the FBI conducted its search.

Image source, Getty Images / Joe Raedle

Image source, Getty Images / Marc Serota

Image source, Getty Images / Marc Serota

Image source, Getty Images / Marc Serota

Image source, Getty Images / Marc Serota

Image source, Getty Images / Marc Serota

Image source, REUTERS/Marco Bello

A senior Trump adviser in Palm Beach has told CBS News the new search by federal agents on Mar-a-Lago was about the presidential records.

"This is about the PRA [Presidential Records Act]," the Trump source, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said when speaking earlier.

"When have you ever heard about a raid because of PRA?"

The source added: "They [the FBI] just left and they left with very little."

Image source, Reuters

There has never been a search warrant quite like this in American history, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg has been telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says this would be the first time a former president's home has been subject to a search warrant and calls it "a big deal".

"Local law enforcement and my office were not notified in advance," Aronberg says, adding: "The feds really kept this close to the chest."

Aronberg believes the FBI is likely to be investigating "the wilful removal and destruction of classified documents that could jeopardise national security".

"It's got to rise to that level, or else there would not have been this kind of unprecedented action," he says.

More now from former district attorney Wendy Olson - this time on Trump’s claims of a witch hunt.

“It’s not uncommon for people who are subjects and targets of investigations to suggest that the government has improper motives," she says.

“And certainly Donald Trump has used that time and time again.

“But pretty soon it becomes sort of like the 'child who cried wolf'.

"It’s hard to believe time and time again that federal law enforcement – many of whom who were very sympathetic, or appeared to be sympathetic to Donald Trump – would take these extraordinary steps if there wasn’t substantial evidence.”

A US national security expert says the search of the former president's Florida home is "unprecedented".

Professor Robert Pape, from the University of Chicago, studies national and international security.

"That means the most famous Conservative politician in the United States - a former president, likely to be now a candidate for president - is being investigated seriously for a crime," he tells the BBC.

"That is unprecedented."

Image source, REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The political reaction from the Republican Party over the FBI's raid of ex-US President Donald Trump's Florida home shows Trump "still remains the undisputed leader" of the party, US journalist and political analyst Eric Ham tells BBC Radio 5 live.

Ham says key Republicans have been "very swift" to react.

He points to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who rebuked the FBI for the raid and has said there will be recriminations if the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in upcoming US midterm elections.

The Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis - who Ham says many see as a future rival to Trump in the Republican Party - has also criticised the FBI, he says.

"What we're seeing is the Republican Party willing to close ranks around Donald Trump and lash out at the chief law enforcement agency of the United States," Ham says.

He goes on to say this "shows just how fragile democracy remains in the United States".