Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the search warrant and property receipt from a search FBI agents carried out Monday at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter,” he said Thursday, after making the required finding of “probable cause” that a crime had been committed.
On Monday, agents searched Trump’s residence and his safe in what sources familiar with the matter have told USA TODAY is an investigation related to Trump’s removal of classified documents from the White House when he left office.
Trump has denounced that investigation. The latest action prompted Trump to make accusations of a “witch hunt” in all levels of government, including the bureau itself. However, FBI Director Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump while he was president.
Related: The Mar-a-Lago search warrant has become a hot topic for speculation. Here’s what we really know
Republicans have said the search was politically motivated, and Wray has responded to threats against the department since the search.
Since 2021, Trump has faced legal scrutiny in at least five independent federal and state inquiries that are both criminal and civil in nature. At least two investigations involve the 2020 election. A bipartisan House committee is digging into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. New York’s attorney general is investigating the Trump Organization’s business practices. And a federal inquiry into presidential records is ongoing and appears to have prompted a search by the FBI at his Florida estate.
Under the law, any search would need to be authorized by a federal judge after finding probable cause that a crime had been committed and that evidence of the crime exists in the location to be searched.
What was taken: Donald Trump knows what FBI agents took from Mar-a-Lago and why they took it, experts say
While not addressing the Justice Department motion to release the search warrant for his home, Trump continued to protest the search itself, calling it unnecessary because his people were cooperating with the government over document production.
“My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.”
There is reason to doubt the relationship was that good – Trump attorneys confirmed earlier in the day that the Justice Department had subpoenaed them for records.
Then came the search on Monday.
In a follow-up most, Trump made a domestic accusation: “Just learned that agents went through the First Lady’s closets and rummaged through her clothing and personal items. Surprisingly, left area in a relative mess. Wow!”
– David Jackson
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called out fellow Republicans for their criticism of the FBI in the hours and days after its agents searched the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.
“I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search. These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk,” Cheney tweeted on Thursday, shortly after Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke at the Justice Department about the search.
Since that law enforcement action, several right-wing Republicans have called for the defunding of the FBI, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who tweeted “DEFUND THE FBI” on Monday night.
Cheney has been a fierce critic of Trump and some of his allies, and, with her vice chairmanship of the House’s Jan. 6 committee, has sought to spotlight his actions related to the Capitol attack.
– Katie Wadington
Republican lawmakers responded to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s statement on the Monday search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence with more questions and criticism.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., urged the Justice Department to release additional information, like the basis of the search and why it was necessary “within 90 days of the midterm election,” suggesting that “half the country believes that when it comes to President Trump there are no rules.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., described the probe as a “politically motivated witch hunt,” and a number of House Republicans criticized Garland and his purported lack of transparency directly.
The House Judiciary Committee on its official Twitter account asked whether the Justice Department would apply the “same standards” to President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and gave an answer to its own question: “Nope.”
– Ella Lee
It’s now largely up to Donald Trump to decide whether the public will see the Justice Department’s reasons for the search of his Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump’s lawyers can object to DOJ’s request to unseal details of the search, a filing that requests such a release “absent objection from former President Trump.”
Trump and his lawyers did not initially say whether they planned to object.
In recent days, they have refused to release their copies of the search warrant and supplemental materials.
Of course, the judge will have the final say-so on whether the search warrant and related materials see the light of day, attorneys said – though it might be tough for him to issue such an order if Trump objects.
“The judge has the final decision,” said Bradley P. Moss, a national security attorney. “If Trump objects, it will be a really tricky line to walk.”
– David Jackson
The search warrant, as is often the case, was sealed for a reason, and unsealing it to appease political supporters of Trump – or his detractors – would go against long-standing Justice Department policy and tradition.
The reason search warrants are sealed, along with the accompanying sworn affidavit by an investigating federal law enforcement agent, is that they provide confidential details of a criminal probe that is operating in secret so as not to tip the government’s hand to those under investigation, according to David Kelley, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
– Josh Meyer
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday also addressed what he called “unfounded attacks on the professionalism” of federal law enforcement officials since the search.
Republicans have denounced the search as politically motivated, and the FBI has responded to threats against the agency since the search.
“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants,” Garland said. “Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.”
– Rick Rouan
Minutes after Attorney General Merrick Garland’s remarks, former President Donald Trump posted a comment on Truth Social that did not address the attorney but instead criticized predecessor Barack Obama.
Trump said he wants to know what happened to the records Obama and his aides took with them when they left the White House in 2017, saying “the Fake News Media refuses to talk about that. They want it CANCELED!”
The cases are nothing alike.
Obama officials transferred their records through the National Archives to their home base in Chicago, where they planned to digitize them for inclusion in their presidential library.
Trump allegedly took boxes of items to his home in Mar-a-Lago, prompting complaints from the National Archives that led to the current investigation and this week’s search of the president’s home.
– David Jackson
The Justice Department’s motion asking a federal judge to unseal the warrant to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home opens the door for Trump to stop it from becoming public.
The department argues the court should unseal the search warrant, attachments and property receipt “absent objection from the former president.”
“The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in their motion. “That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any ‘legitimate privacy interests’ or the potential for other ‘injury’ if these materials are made public.”
Republicans have been beating a drum to release the warrant and associated documents since the FBI conducted its search on Monday.
– Rick Rouan
Attorney General Merrick Garland said a combination of factors influenced the Justice Department’s decision to file to unseal the search warrant.
Those included: Trump’s confirmation of the search, made via a public statement Monday, “surrounding circumstances” and the “substantial public interest in the matter.”
– Rick Rouan
Attorney General Merrick Garland said he personally approved the department’s decision to seek a search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago.
Garland said this was in accordance with Department of Justice policy and procedures, and added, “The department does not take such a decision lightly.”
“Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without favor,” Garland said. “Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.”
– Erin Mansfield
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department Justice has asked a federal court in South Florida to unseal a search warrant and property receipt related to a search of the former president’s home.
Garland said a federal court authorized the search “upon the required finding of probable cause.” He said the DOJ’s motion came “in light of the former president’s public confirmation” as well as “the substantial public interest in this matter.”
– Erin Mansfield
A White House official said President Joe Biden had no prior knowledge that Garland would be making a statement Thursday and learned about it through media reports.
The White House has previously said Biden was not given advance notice of the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property Monday.
“We did not have advance notice of this activity,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week.
– Joey Garrison
Before he was attorney general, Garland was a longtime judge who was nominated for the Justice Department post when Joe Biden won the presidency.
Garland is a Chicago native who attended Harvard University for both undergraduate studies and law school. He practiced corporate law and then served as a deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton, who then nominated him to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016, but he was never confirmed to the high court when Senate Republicans declined to give him a hearing.
Investigations: Trump in midst of gathering storm of investigations. Mar-a-Lago document inquiry is one of many.
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