Justice Department Requests Mar-A-Lago Search Warrant Be Made Public

Topline

The Justice Department filed a motion in federal court Thursday afternoon to unseal the search warrant that was the basis for Monday’s FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s Florida home Mar-a-Lago, with Attorney General Merrick Garland saying the decision to seek to release it was in response to “the substantial public interest in this matter.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in … [+] Washington on August 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Key Facts

Garland said he personally made the decision to apply for the search warrant.

The motion came after media outlets, including the New York Times, requested the search warrant be made public.

The Justice Department has also asked to unseal a redacted property receipt listing items seized in the search.

Garland offered few other updates of the federal investigation into Trump during a short press briefing Thursday afternoon, but he did take time to blast what he called “unfounded” attacks on agents that carried out the raid and prosecutors overseeing the investigation.

Crucial Quote

“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland said of agents and prosecutors. “The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants.”

What To Watch For

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the DOJ to confer with Trump’s legal team on the matter, setting a 3 p.m. Eastern time Friday deadline for Trump’s lawyers to decide whether to oppose the motion.

Key Background

FBI agents spent much of the day Monday combing through Mar-a-Lago, at one point breaking into Trump’s personal safe, the former president said in a statement. The raid reportedly represented a significant escalation of the Justice Department’s probe into allegations that Trump illicitly transported a trove of sensitive White House documents to his home when he left office, despite having been required to turn them over to the National Archives. Trump and his allies have slammed the raid as a form of “political persecution,” with some claiming it was done to benefit President Joe Biden, even the White House said the president was unaware the search was being carried out until media reports about it surfaced. Right-wing extremists have also ramped up violent rhetoric online following the raid.

Contra

Trump claimed on Truth Social following Garland’s presser that his “attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established” before the raid took place “out of nowhere.”

What We Don’t Know

According to the Wall Street Journal, the search warrant was executed in response to a tip about the documents, but it’s unclear who made it. Former Trump White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told CNN on Thursday that whoever made the tip must have been “really close” to the ex-president, adding he was unaware there was a safe at Mar-a-Lago during his time in the Trump Administration.