Former President Donald Trump said on Monday that FBI agents had conducted a “raid” on his Mar-a-Lago residence and club in Palm Beach, Florida, and had broken open his safe.

In a statement put out by his political action committee, Trump said Mar-a-Lago was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”

“After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” the statement said.

He apparently was informed by his son, Eric Trump, who told the media that he was told the FBI could be looking for classified documents from the Trump administration that were being requested by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). 

It is known that the NARA had been demanding documents that Trump had removed from the White House when his presidential term ended, and had brought to Mar-a-lago. Fifteen boxes of White House records stored at Trump’s Florida property had already been turned over to the NARA. 

The FBI and Department of Justice declined to comment on the search of the property. 

Eric Trump told Fox News, “The purpose of the raid was, from what they said, was because the National Archives wanted to corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”

A court order from a federal judge would have been required in order to conduct the search.

The search is a significant step that would have required a judge to be convinced that a crime had been committed and the evidence was on the Florida property. A search of a former president’s residence is unprecedented and would have had to be approved by the highest officials in the Justice Department and the FBI – presumably by Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

The Attorney General’s office declined to comment or confirm that AG Garland had approved the raid. However, Attorney General Merrick Garland said two months ago that “secrets” had been found in documents Trump gave to the NARA, and that the discovery had been referred to the Department of Justice for further investigation.

Trump was not in Florida at the time of the raid. He was at his Bedminster summer estate in New Jersey.