AN FBI raid that has targeted former president Donald Trump was likely approved after a judge was shown convincing evidence that a crime had been committed, according to a leading human rights lawyer.
Qasim Rashid told GB News: “The whole feature of a democracy is that any crime that an ordinary civilian can be charged or convicted of, the president should also have to face those consequences.
“Now, it’s too early to tell what they were looking for or what crime if any, was committed but we have to remember that in American jurisprudence and American law to raid a private residence needs a judge’s signature, meaning that the FBI had to go to a judge and prevent present that judge with enough evidence to convince the judge that a crime had likely been committed and that this surge would result in more information to provide that kind of evidence.
“This is not to be taken lightly and the fact that this was at the direction of Christopher Wray, the FBI director appointed by Trump himself who Trump called a man of impeccable character, further speaks to the seriousness of this and at the end of the day, you have to hope for justice to prevail because that’s how a democracy should function.”
Speaking in an interview during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, Mr Rashid added: “It is unprecedented.
“The closest example is probably president Richard Nixon, who was accused of similar crimes, but I think this goes [much further].
“…it could have been any number of crimes. It could have been tax fraud, it could have been election tampering. It could have been, you know, intimidating election judges – there’s no shortage of the list, and that’s kind of the problem, so we’ll see.
“What the FBI has charged him with or what they’re trying to charge them, we’ll find out soon enough.
“It’s too early to tell but the sheer fact I just want to really emphasise is that this isn’t a political investigation. This was something that was signed off by Christopher Wray, the FBI director who Trump himself approved and appointed and approved by a judge as well.
“It’s too early to speculate what that crime could be but I am hopeful we’ll find out soon enough.”
He said: “He’s going to use this to fundraise, he’s going to use it to play victim to do anything but take responsibility and that’s really the irony of it all.
“The Republican Party screams about how they’re the party of personal responsibility, but when it comes time for them to be accountable they’re anything but
“You saw members of the Republican Party call to defund the FBI after this, screaming ‘blue lives matter’ and accusing Democrats of wanting to abolish police categorically.”
Mr Rashid added: “The vast majority of the American people are sick and tired of this. They want there to be a functioning democracy.
“They want there to be accountability, and they want a government who will actually work for the people and not for personal enrichment.
“So I’m not surprised to see overwhelming support of the American people for there to be accountability.
“What remains to be seen is whether there actually will be accountability and that’s up to the Department of Justice and the FBI.”
