Trump says FBI has returned passports as he compared agents to ‘common criminals’

Former president had complained about missing passports for days

Donald Trump says that the FBI has returned his passports following its raid on his Mar-a-Lago home as he compared the agents to “common criminals.”

The former president had complained that agents removed his passports during their court-approved search of his Florida estate, but took to Truth Social on Tuesday to confirm their return.

“The DOJ and FBI just returned my passports. Thank you! Unfortunately, when they Raided my home, Mar-a-Lago, 8 days ago, they just opened their arms and grabbed everything in sight, much as a common criminal would do. This shouldn’t happen in America!” he wrote on his own social media website.

Mr Trump and his allies have denounced the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, even though it was signed off by a federal judge and personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

He has baselessly claimed that it is a political attack on a likely challenger to Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

Last week the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of an increased threat to federal agents as a result of the search.

According to an unsealed search warrant and property receipt from the Mar-a-Lago search, agents seized documents labeled secret, top secret, and some of the higher classified levels of TS/SCI.

The property receipt did not mention any passports, but following the raid, Mr Trump stated that agents “stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else.”

Earlier this week a Pennsylvania man, Adam Bies, 46, was charged in connection to violent threats made against FBI agents on far-right wing social media network Gab.

The arrest came after an armed man tried to get into the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, last week. Ricky Shiffer, 43, was eventually shot and killed by law enforcement after a standoff.