As it happened: Mike Pence shares 'deep concern' over FBI search of Trump's home - BBC News
Former US Vice President Mike Pence says the search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home "undermines public confidence in our system of justice."
Mick Mulvaney acted as Donald Trump's chief of staff from January 2019 until March 2020 Image caption: Mick Mulvaney acted as Donald Trump's chief of staff from January 2019 until March 2020

Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff, says the FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home - where he reportedly took government documents when he left office - is either "the most egregious political hit job in history or part of the most significant criminal investigation in our history".

Speaking to the BBC, Mulvaney says that during his time at the White House, he was in charge of running the West Wing where he ensured documents were preserved.

"When the law says you have to preserve everything, that's everything - a scratch pad, a newspaper the president had seen, it could be something very serious or something trivial, such as a menu with Boris Johnson, for example," he says.

"If that's all they're looking for, technical violations of the law, then this is a tremendous overreach by the department of justice (DoJ).

"If on the other hand, it's somehow tied to a very serious charge of trying to interfere with the transition of authority to the Biden administration, and if the DoJ thinks there might be documents the president retained at Mar-a-Lago that speak to say, conversations with the right wing extremists and the rioters, then that's very serious."

He said "complete incompetence" could explain why Donald Trump reportedly took so many documents from the White House when his presidency ended.

"Is it possible there's something in that stack that is very damning to the president? Yes there is. And if there is, I hope that's what the DoJ was looking for."