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Does the FBI Raid Mean Trump Can't Run for Office?

AP Photo/Joe Maiorana

The FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago on Monday, allegedly searching for classified documents.

The FBI raided Trump’s Florida property as part of an investigation to see if the former president had unlawfully taken files from the White House after his presidency, according to The New York Times. The Department of Justice under the Biden Administration seems to care a good deal about the conduct of politicians who are particularly conservative. Where was this level of investigation when it came to Hunter Biden? Or even Hillary Clinton? Did anyone else but conservatives care when former President Bill Clinton met with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac?

For that matter, did anyone else but conservatives care that the journalist who broke the tarmac meeting story conveniently decided to commit suicide?

Nope! Nothing to see here! Keep going about your business. However, never forget: Orange man bad.

The Jan. 6 hearings were already an obvious desperate reach, but the Left cannot seem to help itself.

It’s true what they say — actions speak louder than words — and with their actions, Democrats have now said the quiet part out loud (again): Get Trump!

In light of this egregious attempt at getting Trump, the question now is: if Biden’s DOJ can accomplish the legal gymnastics it would take to pin something on Trump, would he be barred from running for office?

The experts are not quite unified one way or the other. Some say this spells the end for Trump, while others say that the Democrats just handed 45 the victory, according to the New York Post.

But the law is specific when it comes to situations like these.

Marc Elias, a lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, took to Twitter to state his opinion on the matter.

Elias cited 18 U.S.C. § 2071, pointing out that Trump may potentially be prohibited from running for president under this law.

U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2071, states, “Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”

This may seem alarming at first glance, but even if the Orwellian DOJ is able to charge Trump with a crime, it would still not prevent Trump from running again.

The U.S. Code cited by Elias did not stop Clinton in 2015, and it will not stop Trump now.

Related: Hillary Clinton Flaunts Her Democrat Privilege, Peddles ‘But Her Emails’ Swag the Day After Mar-a-Lago Raid

The Constitution gives only Congress the power to disqualify persons from the presidency by holding impeachment hearings. The criminal law code has no such power, the New York Times reportsPowell v. McCormack and U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton state that “Congress may not alter or add to the qualifications in the Constitution.”

Of course, this matters if and only if Trump is charged; otherwise, the point is moot. Either way, whether or not Biden’s DOJ charges Trump, he can run again.

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