FACT CHECK: Did Ron DeSantis Defend The FBI’s Search Of Mar-A-Lago On ‘Hannity’?

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defending the FBI’s recent search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence on “Hannity.”

Verdict: False

The clip is digitally edited. A spokesperson for Fox News denied the clip’s authenticity.

Fact Check:

The FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Aug. 8, according to The Washington Post. The raid was reportedly in connection to an investigation by the Justice Department regarding whether the former president improperly removed confidential documents from the White House, CNN reported.

Now, a Facebook video appears to show DeSantis defending the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago during a segment on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s show “Hannity.” The clip begins with Hannity, guest Lara Trump and DeSantis debating whether “raid” is the proper term to use for the operation.

DeSantis claims it was not a “raid” and goes on to state the operation “served valid process in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the United States and Florida.” Later in the purported segment, DeSantis accuses Lara Trump and Hannity of “trying to feed narratives” to the media.

The clip is digitally altered. The actual segment, which aired on Hannity’s show Aug. 9, shows him giving his monologue about the raid. The clip of DeSantis used in the video is from a press conference he held in December 2020 in which a reporter questioned the governor about the search of the home of Rebekah Jones, a former state health employee.

Jones was investigated after she allegedly made “unauthorized comments about Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard” in May 2020, according to WPTV. (RELATED: No, Donald Trump Did Not Post This Statement Criticizing Ron DeSantis And Joe Rogan)

A Fox News spokesperson confirmed the clip was not real in an email to Check Your Fact. Hannity also denied the authenticity of the clip, indicating that the segment had been edited via his Twitter page. 

This is not the first false claim made in relation to the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim that a call between the head of the FBI and President Joe Biden had been leaked, proving the search was “unlawful.”

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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