NORFOLK, Va. — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin criticized the raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, calling it "a stunning move by the DOJ and FBI."
The Republican governor shared his thoughts on his personal Twitter account Tuesday morning, over 14 hours after Trump announced that FBI agents searched his Florida home.
"This same DOJ labeled parents in Loudoun County as terrorists and failed to enforce federal law to protect Justices in their homes," Youngkin said in his tweet. "Selective, politically motivated actions have no place in our democracy."
Youngkin's statement aligns with what many of his fellow Republicans have said. Leading GOP lawmakers are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by Trump in 2017, to publicly explain why it happened.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowed "immediate oversight of [the Department of Justice]" if Republicans regain a majority in the House of Representatives.
After reaching out for clarification on his specific claims, Youngkin's spokesperson Macaulay Porter referred 13News Now to an October 2021 memo from Garland that addressed violent threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.
Garland wrote the memo days after the National School Boards Association urged the Biden administration to provide federal assistance to address threats against students and educators.
"As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes," the association wrote in its letter.
In the footnotes, the association cited an arrest at a school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia. While the association's letter mentions domestic terrorism, Garland's memo doesn't use that term.
Porter also referred to federal law that prohibits picketing or parading outside the home of a judge "with the intent of influencing."
In May, Youngkin and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a fellow Republican, called on Garland to enforce that law following the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning nationwide abortion rights, and the ensuing protests outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices in both states.
In a Twitter thread, Virginia House Minority Leader Don Scott criticized Youngkin's statement, saying "no person is above the law."
"Being Governor of Virginia is a tough and honorable job; please master that job before running for President 8 months in," Scott tweeted. "It is beneath the dignity of the Office of the Governor to undermine law enforcement and smear the judiciary in this way."