Justice Department asks to release Mar-a-Lago warrant, ‘absent objection’ from Trump
The Justice Department has asked a federal court in Florida to unseal the warrant that led to the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Monday and make public a list of the items removed from the property — “absent objection” by the former president.
The unusual move by the department, announced Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a rare public statement on an ongoing criminal probe, reflected the extraordinary nature of the search of a former president’s house. It also put the burden on Trump to choose whether to make potentially incriminating details of the case available to the public.
Garland said the FBI had gone to lengths to keep the execution of its search warrant out of public view, noting it was Trump — not the Justice Department — who alerted the media to the mid-morning search of his Palm Beach estate.
Because Trump had made the matter public, prompting a swirl of public interest and outcry from conservative Republicans, the Justice Department saw no reason to keep details of the warrant under seal.
“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.
Trump will now have to decide whether to object. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart — who signed the warrant on Aug. 5, three days before the FBI showed up at Mar-a-Lago — ordered the DOJ to advise by 3 p.m. on Friday whether Trump opposes the motion to unseal the search warrant and property receipt.
The former president is the subject of several criminal probes. But the search of his Florida home was due to his refusal to turn over sensitive national security documents he brought home after losing the presidency in 2020, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“The Department of Justice will speak through its court filings and its work,” the attorney general said. Garland confirmed that he personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant.
Trump on the clock
The motion filed Thursday by U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida asks Reinhart to unseal the initial search warrant, as well as a redacted return receipt of the motion listing the items obtained in the search. It also notes that Trump’s legal counsel has already received copies of these documents.
“Given the intense public interest presented by a search of a residence of a former president, the government believes these factors favor unsealing of the search warrant,” the motion reads.
It was not immediately clear how Trump would respond.
In a statement posted to Truth Social after Garland’s comments, Trump continued to criticize the search warrant, saying his “attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully” with the Justice Department prior to Monday’s visit by the FBI.
“Everything was fine, better than that of most previous Presidents, and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided, at 6:30 in the morning, by VERY large numbers of agents, and even ‘safecrackers,’ ” Trump wrote. “They got way ahead of themselves. Crazy!”
Trump said the government “could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.” He added that he had already “put an additional lock on a certain area.”
Efforts to reach a Trump spokesman were unsuccessful.
Garland said in his statement that “faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy.”
“Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing,” Garland said.
He also addressed what he called “unfounded attacks” against federal law enforcement that have increased since the search, including an incident in Cincinnati on Thursday morning in which an armed man attempted to breach an FBI facility.
“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland said. “The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. 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.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2022 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Justice Department asks to release Mar-a-Lago warrant, ‘absent objection’ from Trump."
