EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Rick Scott is pushing for the FBI and the Department of Justice to provide answers on the decision to approve the raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether classified documents were mishandled, with the Florida Republican raising concerns about the lack of transparency in the process.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday, Scott, who is the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s chairman and a former governor of the Sunshine State, said that the Republicans’ requests for information on the legal justification behind the move have largely gone unanswered, arguing that this raises concerns about the agency’s motivations. While Garland said Thursday that he would move to release the search warrant, Republicans argued his remarks fall short of providing pertinent information regarding its actions and the overarching investigation.
“As you are both well aware, the American people are justifiably alarmed by the conduct of your agencies. This alarm has arisen not only because of the unprecedented nature of the raid, conducted at the personal residence of a former president, and potential future political opponent of the sitting president, but increasingly because of the lack of transparency by you and the Biden administration in the face of repeated questions seeking the legal justification for such extreme action,” he wrote.
“Let me be clear: no one is above the law and no government agency, especially the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is immune from accountability to the American people,” he said. “Your refusal to fully and transparently answer legitimate questions about the motivations and justifications for such provocative conduct by your agencies serves only to further damage the integrity of the DOJ and FBI, is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated.”
Trump allies have been highly critical of the FBI’s actions, alleging that the raid was politically motivated — an accusation that the Democrats have vehemently denied, with proponents of the decision asserting that multiple steps needed to be taken to approve the search warrant.
The Florida Republican is demanding that the agencies provide him with a slew of information and materials pertaining to the documents submitted to the federal magistrate judge in support of their application for the search warrant.
In addition to calling for an unredacted copy of the warrant application, Scott requested “all internal memoranda, briefing documents, and supporting materials of the FBI and DOJ developed and used in the drafting and review of the search warrant application in question.”
The Florida lawmaker is also calling for answers on whether Garland, Wray, or officials at their respective agencies informed President Joe Biden or White House officials about their plans to submit the warrant application or did so ahead of their decision to execute the search warrant before the raid took place.
Scott went on to question whether Wray or Garland personally reviewed the contents of the application and if “‘less-intrusive means’ were considered and pursued by the FBI and DOJ as an alternative to conducting a forcible raid of the former president’s personal residence to obtain the documents or materials sought through this search warrant?”
Scott is also pushing for information on what steps the DOJ took to enforce the subpoena issued to Trump pertaining to the presidential documents improperly brought to Florida from the White House prior to carrying out the search warrant.
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“In reference to the subpoena reportedly issued to former President Trump for certain materials and records earlier this year, what steps did the DOJ take to enforce that subpoena before pursuing the search warrant in this case?” the senator asked.
“To the extent responses to these requests include confidential or sensitive information, I am willing to receive an in-person briefing and review such documents and materials in a classified setting,” Scott said.
The lawmaker is calling for all requested information to be provided by Aug. 19.
