On Thursday (August 11), the Department of Justice requested a federal judge give the go-ahead to unseal the warrant which authorized the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
In the court filing requesting the documents be unsealed, lawyers for the DOJ writes, “The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing.”
Thursday’s request to unseal the documents is a stark contrast to the Department’s practice of staying silent on ongoing investigations, a move that could mean the investigation into the former President could escalate.
Thursday was also the first time Attorney General Merrick Garland broke his silence on the matter, with the remarks coinciding with the revelation about the DOJ’s pursuit to unseal the documents. Speaking at the DOJ headquarters, Garland acknowledged that he had personally authorized the decision by the FBI to pursue a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
“All Americans are entitled to the even-handed application of the law, to due process of law, and to the presumption of innocence,” Garland stated, adding that the work of the DOJ is “by necessity conducted out of the public eye.”
He then expressed that he couldn’t provide details about the search on Trump because “Federal law, longstanding department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.”
According to the court filing requesting the documents be unsealed, Trump’s attorneys were given a copy of the warrant and a list of documents seized. Although Trump’s legal team hasn’t released the documents, one of his attorneys Christina Bobb, indicated that the search warrant had to do with the storage of classified information at the Mar-a-Lago property.
