An Australian satire news site—The Shovel—proclaimed they are "certainly no fans of Donald Trump–let’s make that clear from the outset," before expounding, in great detail, why they believe the "raid" on the former Republican President's Mar-A-Lago residence "sets a dangerous precedent."
On Monday, the FBI descended upon Trump's home and members-only club in South Florida in search of classified documents relating to nuclear weapons–reports of which the twice-impeached, one-term President called a "hoax" and "prosecutorial misconduct."
The Duty To Warn Twitter account praised the snarky thesis about the consequences of committing a crime written by The Shovel, as "nothing short of brilliant and very much worth a read."
The satirical newspaper conveyed that the previously mentioned "dangerous precedent" now meant that:
"anyone who evades taxes, attempts to undermine an election, sexually assaults women, manipulates the value of their assets, uses state resources to enrich themselves or aids and abets the overthrow of a democratically elected government will be subject to investigation."
\u201cThis is nothing short of brilliant and very much worth a read.\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
@duty2warn/Twitter
The site that is similar to the US satire site The Onion, asked:
"Is that the world we want to live in? Where anyone accused of insurrection can be subject to questioning from law enforcement officers?"
"It’s a slippery slope.
"Before we know it, regular citizens accused of defrauding the government, concealing evidence, manipulating financial documents, tampering with witnesses or perverting the course of justice will also be held to account."
People loved the post online.
\u201c@johncusack They're right here @TheShovel. Classic Aussie pranksters\u201d— John Cusack (@John Cusack) 1660169912
The site listed the consequences of being passive toward the actions of malefactors.
"Or to put it another way, if we simply shrug our shoulders and fail to question the actions of the FBI, soon any old Joe Citizen who is suspected of ripping classified government documents into small pieces and flushing them down the toilet will be obliged to answer to law enforcement, as well as their plumber."
"If we don’t ask the hard questions about the potential motives of the FBI now, soon any one of us who buries our ex-wife in a small grave at the side of their golf course in order to gain a tax concession will be treated with suspicion."
"As Trump supporters put it so clearly yesterday, if this can happen to a President, it could happen to anyone who has committed insurrection, assault or fraud. That’s a chilling thought."
Those who picked up on the mocking tone of the article gave a huge thumbs up.
\u201c@duty2warn \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4fIt is a beautiful piece of writing! Every MAGA should read it too!\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
\u201c@duty2warn Ha ha ha ha ha! I love the dripping sarcasm. Unfortunately I suspect there are many out there who will read this as support for Trump and completely miss the point. \ud83d\ude12\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
\u201c@johncusack Love this!!!!! I am sharing everywhere and everyone here should too. Especially on every GOP\u2019s page when they say defund the FBI!!!\u201d— John Cusack (@John Cusack) 1660169912
\u201c@duty2warn @doerfler_helen Trump\u2019s followers will read this and agree with it. Sarcasm is not their strong suit.\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
The Shovel "slammed" FBI Director Chris Wray, who denounced the violent rhetoric leveled at law enforcement following his agency's Mar-A-Lago investigation.
"We are on new ground here. As Donald Trump himself made clear, this is the first time a former president’s home has been raided."
"Proof, if ever we needed it, that the FBI shamefully only targets people who it considers to have committed a crime. Who gave FBI director Chris Wray that authority?"
"As we made clear earlier, we’re certainly not Trump supporters."
"But in today’s partisan world, it would be easy to fall into the trap of cheering on the FBI’s actions, without taking a step back to look at the bigger picture."
The article concluded with the following hypothetical about justice prevailing.
"If Trump goes to jail, it opens the door for every lying, corrupt, perverted piece of sh*t to go to jail too. Is that what we want?"
Not everyone seemed to get the satirical nature of the post.
\u201c@johncusack If you do something wrong, there will be unpleasant consequences. Deal with it, or better, don't do anything illegal.\u201d— John Cusack (@John Cusack) 1660169912
\u201c@duty2warn The FBI did their job, period! Every criminal is subjected to the same treatment. Mar a lago is not his home it's a business property and he was hiding top secret evidence that he had no right to. He was treated like the criminal he is. They should have hit Bedminster at too.\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
\u201c@duty2warn Nope it\u2019s not a dangerous precedent. If you follow the law and don\u2019t commit a crime , then it won\u2019t happen to you. It was a search warrant signed off by a federal judge and if he\u2019s innocent he can appeal, which I seriously doubt he is. So he riles up his base .\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
\u201c@duty2warn Yes it\u2019s what I want\u2026 criminals commit crimes\u2026 a whole bunch of republicans drank the kool aid and joined their lord/master in a criminal event\u2026\n\nTo me that means justice\u2026 100\u2019s of these people brought this to fruition\u2026 now it\u2019s time for consequences\u2026 every single one, jail\u201d— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1660161395
A federal judge unsealed the warrant on Friday that authorized federal agents to search Mar-A-Lago after the Justice Department requested it be made public.
The Department conferred with Trump's attorneys, who formally stated he did not object to making the search warrant of his estate public.
At the time of the search, the former President was in New York.
Federal agents reportedly retrieved boxes that included 11 sets of classified documents, although it is unclear whether any documents relating to nuclear weapons were uncovered or if they pertained to US weapons or those of another country.
Trump repeatedly suggested federal agents could have been planting incriminating evidence despite one of his lawyers claiming he and his family were able to "observe" the whole operation that was captured by surveillance cameras.
“The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago," wrote Trump on Truth Social.