Former President Donald Trump said he is “ENCOURAGING the immediate release” of the search warrant and related documents that led to Monday’s FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago in a statement released late Thursday night.
Trump said:
Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, 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.
Trump not opposing warrant release pic.twitter.com/HjlarShXIg
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 12, 2022
Trump’s public support for releasing the search warrant comes after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to unseal parts of the warrant. United States Attorney General Merrick Garland’s DOJ cited a “substantial public interest” in their motion to unseal the warrant.
Florida Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the search warrant, ordered the Justice Department to confer with Trump’s legal team to determine if they would oppose the Department’s motion to unseal.
A group of corporate media companies also filed a motion to unseal all court documents connected with the search warrant, including “all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant,” according to CNBC.
Garland confirmed that he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter” earlier on Thursday after conflicting reports that FBI Director Christopher Wray authorized the search warrant.
Republican politicians, including some who voted for Trump’s impeachment, have called on both Garland and Wray to provide an explanation for the raid on Mar-a-Lago.
Trump also criticized the “unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement” in his statement.
“My poll numbers are the strongest they have ever been, fundraising by the Republican Party is breaking all records, and midterm elections are fast approaching,” Trump added. “This unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and highly unethical.”
“The world is watching as our Country is being brought to a new low, not only on our border, crime, economy, energy, national security, and so much more, but also with respect to our sacred elections,” Trump concluded. “Release the documents now!”
