Top Senate Republicans begin to weigh in on Trump FBI raid, after slower response than House counterparts

Top Senate Republicans are demanding that the FBI immediately release information about its raid of former President Trump's Florida estate, which they are calling a major law enforcement escalation against a former president.

The statements, from GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Vice Conference Chair Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott, R-Fla., come as top Senate Republicans overall have been slower to comment on the raid than their counterparts in House GOP leadership.

"Raiding a former president’s home is unprecedented," Barrasso tweeted Tuesday morning. "The Justice Department needs to quickly and transparently tell the American people who approved this raid and why it occurred."

"A totally unprecedented action by the DOJ and FBI — the same agencies who labeled parents domestic terrorists and sat on the sidelines while Justices were threatened and churches were vandalized," Ernst tweeted. "The American people deserve answers. now."

"The [FBI’s] raid of Mar-a-Lago is incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admin’s history of going after parents & other political opponents," Scott said in a Monday tweet.

"This is 3rd World country stuff. We need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why," he continued. Scott was the only member of Senate GOP leadership to mention the raid Monday, the day it happened.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune issued a statement later Tuesday. He said, "The FBI needs to provide answers as to why they raided the home of a former American president. Complete transparency is the only way to dispel the American people’s worst suspicions about the agency’s motives."

Thune added: "Like every other American, I await their timely explanation. Delay is not an option."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Policy Chair Roy Blunt, R-Mo., had not commented as of Tuesday afternoon. Their offices did not immediately provide comment in response to requests from Fox News Digital.... (Read more)

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