AG Garland announces DOJ has filed a motion to unseal FBI search warrant for Mar-a-Lago raid

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that the Department of Justice has filed a motion in the Southern District of Florida to unseal the FBI search warrant that allowed agents to enter the personal quarters of former president Donald Trump earlier this week.

At a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, Garland confirmed he had personally signed off on pursuing the search warrant. He also revealed the Department of Justice’s motion to unseal the warrant.

“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,” said Garland.

The AG pointed out that “absent objection from the former president” the warrant may be unsealed. The motion reads, “The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing.”

Trump issued a statement on Thursday night in response to Garland’s announcement. “Not only will I not oppose the release of the documents, I am going a step further by encouraging the immediate release of those documents,” wrote Trump. 

The Washington Post reported late on Thursday that the specific target of the FBI search – top secret documents that were allegedly removed from the White House, according to unknown informants – included nuclear documentation. According to The Post, the sources did not say whether the information contained in the documents related to weapons possessed by the United States or any other nations, and did not reveal whether any such documents were found or removed from Mar-a-Lago.