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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Former President Donald Trump Thursday demanded the “immediate release” of documents related to a raid by FBI agents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence. Trump’s call came hours after the Justice Department asked a court to unseal the warrant, as Attorney General Merrick Garland cited the “substantial public interest in this matter,” The Associated Press reports.
Writing on
his Trump Social, Trump said, “Not only will I not oppose the release of
documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of
those documents,” according to The Associated Press.
“Release the
documents now!” he wrote.
Why is DOJ seeking unsealing of documents about FBI raid on Trump's estate?
The Justice
Department request to seek the unsealing of the documents came after public
anger about the bureau’s raid, just as several top Republicans including former
Vice President Mike Pence condemned the FBI raid on Monday. Although such
documents are not usually released during a pending investigation, it has
become clear that the FBI needs to make its own side of the story known to the
public in the midst of vile attacks against the bureau.
“The public’s clear and powerful interest in
understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor
of unsealing,” said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday, The
Associated Press reported.
The Justice
Department requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt
listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments,
according to The Associated Press.
Garland
admitted personally approving the search warrant after less intrusive methods
failed to yield the needed results.
A person
familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that there was substantial
engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant,
which also included a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago some
months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to access how the documents
were stored but all that failed to yield results.
It’s not
clear what documents the FBI recovered from the estate.
Did Trump cooperate with the FBI on classified documents?
Trump sought
to deceive the public by saying despite his cooperation with the FBI, the search
warrant was issued.
Trump said
in a post on his Truth Social platform that his “attorneys and representatives
were cooperating fully” prior to the search, and that government officials
“could have had whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, if we had it,”
according to The Associated Press.
Garland
acknowledged that investigations are conducted out of the “public eye” to
preserve the rights of those investigated during his public statement on the
matter.
“Much of our
work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the
constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our
investigations,” he said. “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.”
Trump wants documents released?
Trump said Thursday
he wants the documents released “even though they have been drawn up by radical
left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and
powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6
years,” according to The Washington Times.
“This
unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and
highly unethical,” Trump said of the raid.
The Washington
Times reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart has given the Justice
Department until 3 p.m. Friday to notify him whether Mr. Trump’s attorneys
oppose releasing the warrant and property receipt.
A report by
the Washington Post said the materials sought by the FBI include information
about nuclear weapons which Trump dismissed as a “hoax.