CLEVELAND — Ohio GOP political reactions to a federal search warrant being executed on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home range from being called "harassment" by Rep. Jim Jordan, "disgraceful and unprecedented" by Senate candidate JD Vance, while Congressman Dave Joyce is calling for "legitimate justification" of the warrant.
RELATED: Here's how Ohio politicians are reacting to FBI search at home of former President Donald Trump
On the Democratic side, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur states "no one is above the law" and Rep. Tim Ryan states he hopes the search brings "accountability and justice."
But how did we get here in the first place? Case Western Reserve University law professor Michael Benza explained the process of executing a federal warrant to us.
It starts with proving you have evidence.
"The prosecutors and law enforcement officers proved to a judge that there is sufficient evidence for them to believe there were classified documents that were at Mar-a-Lago," Benza said.
In this case, the judge issued the warrant and that gives the FBI the right to search. As of now, the details inside haven't been released.
"In the criminal justice arena, everyone is the same, everyone is equal. So the test is the same if the person you want to serve is a former president of the United States or a repeated street-level drug dealer," Benza said.
While warrants help look for evidence, there is one clear thing they don't do.
"There may just be probable cause to indicate these records are there, but that doesn't mean there's evidence there or they even believe that someone has committed a crime," Benza said.
While the process of getting a warrant is the same, regardless of whose property is being searched, Benza said there were likely discussions within the Department of Justice about the implications of executing a warrant at a former president's property.
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