By Yashwant Raj

Washington, Aug 9 (IANS): Former US President Donald Trump has said that his residence in Florida has been "raided" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," Trump added on Monday in a statement released through his political action committee -- 'Save America'.

However, any statement were neither issued by the FBI or the US Justice Department.

The former President was not at his house at the time of raids.

US legal experts said that a search of this kind has to be cleared by a federal judge on two essential grounds: One, there is probable cause that a federal crime has been committed and is being investigated and two, related evidence is stored at the site of the search.

The raid is likely in connection to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 Presidential election outcome, which is being scrutinised at multiple levels, including a Congressional probe into the January 6 riots at the US Capitol by large number of people incited by Trump to prevent a joint session from certifying Joe Biden's victory.

The FBI has raided and searched the premises of a former Justice Department official, who aided Trump's efforts, and seized the phone of a lawyer who is believed to have encouraged the former President to challenge the outcome.