Attorney general Merrick Garland said Thursday that the Justice Department seek a judge to unseal the search warrant for Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence earlier this week.
“The department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter,” Garland said in a press conference.
Garland said that the warrant will include an affidavit detailing the reason behind the search and probable cause to believe a crime has been committed.
Also Read | Attorney General Merrick Garland explains FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home
“I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter,” he said,
Trump and his allies have accused the Justice Department and Garland, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, to have searched his Florida home just to hurt the former president politically.
“Let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors,” Garland said at the press conference. “I will not stand by silently, when their integrity is unfairly attacked.”
On Monday, the FBI searched Trump’s residence and his safe in an investigation related to the former President’s removal of classified documents from the White House when he left office.
During the raid, the FBI agent seized about a dozen boxes from Trump’s home.
Garland said that copies of both the warrant and FBI property receipt were provided to Trump’s counsel. The warrant reportedly indicated a possible violations of laws related to the Presidential Records Act and the handling of classified material.
Also Read | Donald Trump received subpoena ahead of Monday’s FBI raid in Mar-a-Lago: Report
All presidential records are required to go to the National Archives when a president leaves office. However, Trump delayed giving the documents to the Archives for nearly a year.
Trump supporters slammed the Joe Biden administration and accused the Department of Justice of “political weaponization” after the raid. However, Democrats applauded the agency for holding Trump accountable for “wrongdoing.”
