Trump FBI raid documents about Mar-a-Lago search unsealed

FBI agents found four dozen empty document folders marked "CLASSIFIED" during their raid last month of former President Donald Trump's residence at his Mar-a-Lago club, a newly unsealed court file revealed Friday. Agents found 43 of those empty folders marked classified in Trump's office, according to the Department of Justice's inventory of the seized items, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The remaining five empty folders with that marking were found in containers in a storage room. The FBI also found another 42 empty folders marked "Return to Staff Secretary/Miliary [sic] Aide," during the Aug. 8 raid, which was authorized to search for government documents removed from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021, the filing said.

Documents seized by FBI from Mar-a-Lago Source: Department of Justice

Twenty-eight of those empty folders were found in Trump's office, while another 14 were in a storage room elsewhere, the document shows. And FBI agents found more than 10,000 government documents and photographs without classification markings, the filing shows. Among those were hundreds of photos and news articles, along with gifts, clothing, and books. The bombshell revelations raise the prospect that the DOJ has not yet recovered the documents that would have been in the empty folders. The DOJ is investigating possible crimes related to the removal of those and other government documents from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021. By law, such records must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

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It was signed by Miami U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez, and Jay Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section of the national security division of the Justice Department. "The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government's investigation, and the investigative team will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional interviews and grand jury practice," that notice says. "It is important to note, 'review' of the seized materials is not a single investigative step but an ongoing process in this active criminal investigation," the document says. Trump's spokesman in a series of tweets about the inventory of the seized items again criticized the raid. "The new 'detailed' inventory list only further proves that this unprecedented and unnecessary raid of President Trump's home was not some surgical, confined search and retrieval that the Biden administration claims, it was a SMASH AND GRAB," wrote the spokesman, Taylor Budowich. "These document disputes should be resolved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires cooperation and negotiation by NARA [National Archives and Records Administration], not an armed FBI raid," Budowich added.

Trump in a lawsuit filed in late August asked Cannon to appoint an independent watchdog, known as a special master, to review the items seized in the search before the DOJ is allowed to continue using the documents in the investigation. Trump's lawyers have said a special master could check to see if some documents would be prohibited from being used in the probe because they are protected by either attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The DOJ has opposed the appointment of a special master, saying that it would delay the investigation, and that Trump does not own the documents. Cannon, during a court hearing in Florida on that dispute Thursday, said she will issue a ruling on the special master request in "due course."

Cannon, a Trump appointee, previously shared her "preliminary intent" to grant Trump's request for a special master. The judge suggested in Thursday's hearing that she is still considering that appointment, news outlets reported.

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Kiely Rodni case: California sex offender arrested on unrelated charge as result of search for missing girl

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Two weeks after the suspicious disappearance and possible abduction of California 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, the investigation led to the arrest of a local sex offender on unrelated charges, police say.

"The operation, which occurred on Thursday, Aug. 18, resulted in several sex registrants being found in violation of their terms, with one arrest being made and criminal charges to be filed on another," the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday morning. "The Truckee Police Department routinely conducts similar sweeps and is committed to aggressively pursuing prosecution of those offenders found to be out of compliance with any probation or parole terms."

Rodni’s unsolved disappearance prompted the compliance checks, but the arrests were not directly related to her case, according to investigators. Truckee police did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the arrested suspect.

Across state lines in nearby Incline, Nevada, deputies performed a similar check on a sex offender Wednesday but said it had no connection to Rodni’s disappearance. Back in California, a mutli-agency task force investigating the girl's case is also asking additional witnesses to come forward. 

KIELY RODNI: CALIFORNIA POLICE ‘MODIFYING’ SEARCH EFFORT NEXT WEEK AS FEW SIGNS OF MISSING TEEN EMERGE

A missing person flyer for Kiely Rodni at the Tahoe National Forest, where she was last seen at a party on Aug. 6. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

Rodni was last seen at an outdoor party within the Tahoe National Forest that stretched from the evening of Aug. 5 into Aug. 6. 

The 16-year-old early high school graduate was drinking and "partying" with friends and was likely too inebriated to drive, one partygoer, 18-year-old Sami Smith, told Fox News Digital.

MISSING KIELY RODNI: MASSIVE SEARCH AS FRIENDS REVEAL TEEN'S LAST KNOWN FOOTSTEPS IN POSSIBLE ABDUCTION CASE

There were about 200 to 300 people in attendance, mostly juveniles and young adults, according to the Place County Sheriff’s Office.

Of those, detectives have interviewed between a third and half of them, according to Angela Musallam, the sheriff’s public information officer.

On Tuesday, the sheriff's office shared a surveillance image that showed Rodni's outfit on the night she went missing. (Findkiely.com, Placer County Sheriff)

"Although our detectives have interviewed over 100 partygoers, they would still like some more cooperation," she told Fox News Digital Friday.

Investigators have still not been able to speak with anyone who actually saw Rodni leaving, and the sheriff’s office is asking for anyone who has not yet spoken with detectives to do so. Authorities are also asking for people to continue submitting tips, including videos and photos taken at the party. 

Rodni texted her mother around midnight saying she was headed home. At 12:33 a.m. on Aug. 6, her phone last pinged near the site of the party, a clearing in the woods between the Prosser Family Campground and Prosser Creek Reservoir outside Truckee, California.

MISSING KIELY RODNI: INVESTIGATORS FIND NEW VIDEO OF VANISHED TEEN ON NIGHT OF PARTY; REWARD INCREASES TO $75K

Kiely Rodni's SUV is also missing – a silver 2013 Honda CRV with California license plate 8YUR127. It has a small ram-head sticker on the back window, under her rear wiper blade. (Findkiely.com)

More than a week of searches focused on the immediate and surrounding areas turned up no signs of Rodni. Her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV with a ram head sticker under the rear windshield wiper, is also unaccounted for, police say.

MISSING KIELY RODNI'S MOTHER SAYS AMBER ALERT ‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED IMMEDIATELY,’ WANTS TO STAY ‘POSITIVE’

The Placer County Sheriff's Office says Kiely Rodni appeared on video earlier in the night she went missing wearing a pink and white "Odd Future" hoodie. (Placer County Sheriff's Office, FindKiely.com)

The party also included visitors from out of town, and Musallam said that "the majority of them" have been identified.

Investigators said Monday they were scaling down the massive search effort, which involved days of aerial surveillance and dive teams, to a task force-based investigation.

"We are still looking for any clues, videos, tips, any information to help us to put pieces together and help us to direct where we're going and how we're going to continue to do a search," Capt. Sam Brown, of the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, said during a news briefing.

MISSING KIELY RODNI: A TIMELINE OF THE 16-YEAR-OLD'S DISAPPEARANCE FROM CAMPGROUND PARTY

Kiely Rodni was last seen on Aug. 6 at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California. (findkiely.com)

Rodni is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall and about 118 pounds. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has a tattoo on her ribs of the number "17." She has a nose ring and several other piercings and was wearing three gold necklaces the night she went missing, according to her friends.

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She was wearing green Dickies pants, a black studded belt and a black spaghetti-strap bodysuit, according to authorities. And she was seen on video in a pink and white hoodie reading "ODD FUTURE" earlier on Aug. 5. She may have also been in possession of a dark gray hoodie with Lana Del Rey lyrics.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s dedicated tip line at 530-581-6320. Callers can remain anonymous.

There is a $75,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports

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Mar-a-Lago FBI search warrant hearing

Police direct traffic outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8. (Terry Renna/AP)

CNN, joined by The Washington Post, NBC News and Scripps, asked a court last week to unseal documents connected to the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Florida residence  — including documents not covered by the Justice Department's own bid to unseal a selection of the warrant materials.

Specifically, CNN and the other outlets are asking for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to unseal the entire record filed with the court, including all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant. These lay out why investigators believe that there is probable cause that a crime was committed and the evidence of that crime existed in recent days at the site where the search was sought.

The request was filed after the Justice Department submitted its own request with the federal court to unseal certain warrant materials. In remarks announcing the request, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is seeking the release of the "search warrant and property receipt" from the FBI's search.

In the unsealing filing by CNN and the other outlets with the court, they pointed to "the historic importance of these events."

"Before the events of this week, not since the Nixon Administration had the federal government wielded its power to seize records from a former President in such a public fashion," the outlets said in the filing.

The filing said that "tremendous public interest in these records in particular outweighs any purported interest in keeping them secret."

"The Media Intervenors certainly do not seek these records for any illegitimate purpose," the outlets said. "To the contrary, public access to these records will promote public understanding of this historically significant, unprecedented execution of a search warrant in the residence of a former President."

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/mar-a-lago-fbi-search-warrant-hearing/?feed_id=12666&_unique_id=62fe831d71cd5

Justice Department opposes release of affidavit justifying FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

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The Department of Justice filed a motion on Monday opposing the release of the affidavit that was used to justify the search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

"If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps," the 13-page filing says.

"The fact that this investigation implicates highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if information is disclosed to the public prematurely or improperly."

Donald Trump leaves New York City after the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort. (Felipe Ramales: Fox News Digital)

FBI SEIZES PRIVILEGED TRUMP RECORDS DURING RAID; DOJ OPPOSES REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW: SOURCES

A judge unsealed the search warrant and property receipt on Friday, which revealed that FBI agents seized approximately 20 boxes of items from Trump's home, including one set of documents marked as "Various classified/TS/SCI documents," which refers to top secret/sensitive compartmented information.

"The government determined that these materials could be released without significant harm to its investigation because the search had already been executed and publicly acknowledged by the former President, and because the materials had previously been provided to the former President through counsel," the Justice Department wrote in Monday's filing.

"Disclosure at this juncture of the affidavit supporting probable cause would, by contrast, cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation."

Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is seen on Jan. 20, 2021. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

Trump has called the raid an "assault on a political opponent," saying that FBI agents took three of his passports during the raid.

"There has never been a time like this where law enforcement has been used to break into the house of a former president of the United States, and there is tremendous anger in the country — at a level that has never been seen before, other than during very perilous times," Trump told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO

The Justice Department said Monday that it does not oppose the release of other documents, such as cover sheets for the warrant and the government's motion to seal.

Other lawmakers have also called for the release of the affidavit and other documents supporting the search warrant from Trump's home.

Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on Sunday, requesting the specific intelligence documents seized from Mar-a-Lago.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted on Monday afternoon that it is "imperative the Justice Department release the affidavit justifying the raid."

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The issue now goes back to the magistrate judge, who may ask Trump's team whether they would support the release of the affidavit.

Fox News's Brooke Singman and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Paul Best is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Paul.best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest. 

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Kiely Rodni: California police 'modifying' search effort next week as few signs of missing teen emerge

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The search for missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni will be scaled down to a "task force"-based investigation next week, California investigators said Monday, 10 days after the teen vanished under disturbing circumstances.

"We are still looking for any clues, videos, tips, any information to help us to put pieces together and help us to direct where we're going and how we're going to continue to do a search," Capt. Sam Brown, of the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, said during a Monday news briefing. "We are moving into a more limited but continuous search and rescue effort."

He said the massive interagency search effort has put in more than 9,000 man-hours since Rodni was reported missing on Aug. 6.

"Our biggest problem is where do we go, and how do we keep sustaining this?" he added.

MISSING KIELY RODNI: INVESTIGATORS FIND NEW VIDEO OF VANISHED TEEN ON NIGHT OF PARTY; REWARD INCREASES TO $75K

Kiely Rodni was last seen a week ago on Aug. 6 at Prosser Family Campground after midnight. (findkiely.com)

The search started last week in the immediate area of where the girl's phone had last pinged, near the Prosser Creek Reservoir, and has steadily expanded outward. Police have been unable to locate the girl, her SUV or any other signs.

And they say they have still not found anyone who actually saw Rodni leaving the area before she went missing. They are asking for anyone who may have taken photos or videos to share them with investigators.

"I'd like to say that we're putting the pedal down, that we are continuing to work this week, and that after this week we will be modifying things to a task force style," said Lt. Josh Barnhart, of the Placer County Sheriff's Office. "That means our resources will continue to move forward, but in somewhat of a different manner."

MISSING KIELY RODNI: A TIMELINE OF THE 16-YEAR-OLD'S DISAPPEARANCE FROM CAMPGROUND PARTY

Lt. Josh Barnhart of the Placer Co. Sheriff's Office speaks to reporters on Monday, Aug. 15, 10 days into the search for missing Kiely Rodni, 16. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

The FBI has partnered with local detectives to conduct interviews with people at the party and residents who live nearby, and the public has largely been cooperative, Barnhart said.

"I would say for the most part, everyone has been very cooperative," he said.

Detectives have also overcome earlier resistance from at least one parent who allegedly told their children, who had attended the party, not to aid in the investigation.

MISSING KIELY RODNI'S MOTHER SAYS AMBER ALERT ‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED IMMEDIATELY,’ WANTS TO STAY ‘POSITIVE’

"Many people have come forward and given us information, but we haven't run into very large roadblocks and people not wanting to give us information," Barnhart said. "I think [that] was probably an isolated incident that we were able to get past."

Kiely Rodni was last seen on Aug. 6 at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California. (findkiely.com)

Rodni, who was last seen at a packed outdoor party with hundreds of other young people just after midnight on Aug. 6, has an outdoorsy upbringing and strong resolve, according to Cassie Hebel, a family friend and spokesperson.

"She has more than the survival skills to make it back," she said Monday. "She was raised in a family where they know how to survive in the outback, in the ‘Back 40’ as I like to say. That is where she was raised."

The party, near the Prosser Family Campground in the Tahoe National Forest, involved between 200 and 300 juveniles and young adults, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. There was suspected use of drugs and alcohol, and Rodni’s friend told Fox News Digital last week the girl was likely too drunk to have attempted driving.

MISSING KIELY RODNI: MASSIVE SEARCH AS FRIENDS REVEAL TEEN'S LAST KNOWN FOOTSTEPS IN POSSIBLE ABDUCTION CASE

Kiely Rodni went missing on Aug. 6 just after midnight, shortly after telling her parents she was coming home. (findkiely.com)

Angela Musallam, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said during a Monday news briefing investigators were not ready to release the photo.
Separately, she told Fox News Digital, it contains no person of interest. She declined to discuss the video further, citing the open comment investigation.

At 16, Rodni had a full driver’s license and a silver 2013 Honda CRV, which is also missing, Hebel said Monday. She graduated high school early and with honors and hoped to study pediatric orthopedics and music in college. Her 17th birthday is next month.

The car has a ram head sticker under the rear windshield wiper, according to police. Hebel said it has no particular significance other than being an identifying characteristic, and it may have been on the car already when Rodni acquired it.

Kiely Rodni's SUV is also missing – a silver 2013 Honda CRV with California license plate 8YUR127. It has a small ram-head sticker on the back window, under her rear wiper blade. (Findkiely.com)

Rodni is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall and about 118 pounds. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has a tattoo on her ribs of the number "17." She has a nose ring and several other piercings and was wearing three gold necklaces the night she went missing, according to her friends.

She was wearing green Dickies pants, a black studded belt and a black spaghetti-strap bodysuit, according to authorities. And she was seen on video in a pink and white hoodie reading "ODD FUTURE" earlier on Aug. 5. She may have also been in possession of a dark gray hoodie with Lana Del Rey lyrics.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office says Kiely Rodni appeared on video earlier in the night she went missing wearing a pink and white "Odd Future" hoodie. (Placer County Sheriff's Office, FindKiely.com)

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Anyone with information is asked to call the Placer County Sheriff’s Office’s dedicated tip line at 530-581-6320. Callers can remain anonymous. Police are also asking anyone with photos of videos of the party to share them with investigators.

The reward for information leading to Rodni’s whereabouts has climbed to $75,000 after an anonymous donor gave $25,000 to the effort over the

Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports

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Mexico prepares to launch search for trapped coal miners

Operation to rescue 10 miners will become possible once "97 percent of the water" is extracted from the mine in Agujita town of northern Coahuila state, officials say.

Many attempts by rescuers to enter the mine have failed due to debris and water levels. (AFP)

Mexican authorities have said they are finally in a position to begin searching a flooded coal mine, where 10 workers have been trapped for more than a week, offering fresh hope to anguished relatives.

"We have all the conditions to go down there today... to search for and rescue the miners," civil defence national coordinator Laura Velazquez said on Friday.

Velazquez said the rescue operation would become possible once "97 percent of the water" has been extracted from the nearly 60-metre deep mine in the town of Agujita in the northern state of Coahuila.

Several hundred rescuers, including soldiers and military scuba divers, are taking part in efforts to save the miners missing since August 3. 

On Thursday, rescuers had made several attempts to go into the main tunnels but found debris blocking their way that needed to be removed.

The water level in one of the three vertical shafts that rescuers will try to enter has been reduced to 70 centimetres, from more than 30 meters initially, Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said.

The other two shafts still have 3.9 and 4.7 metres of water. Authorities consider 1.5 metres to be an acceptable water level to gain access to the crudely constructed El Pinabete mine.

Clinging for hope

The government's latest announcement provided a new glimmer of hope for families that have become increasingly frustrated with the pace of the rescue operation.

"With that level (of water) you can already enter –– God willing," David Huerta, the brother-in-law of one of the trapped workers, told the AFP news agency.

The 35-year-old said that he himself had dug for coal in small artisanal mines like El Pinabete for nearly 13 years before abandoning the dangerous, gruelling work.

At the bottom of the vertical shafts rescuers will reach the underground tunnels where the digging takes place, and where the missing miners are probably located, Huerta said.

"Crews can go in there and search faster," he added.

Coahuila, Mexico's main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining incidents over the years.

The worst accident was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

Last year, seven died when they were trapped in a mine in the region.

Source: AFP

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Trump and the FBI search warrant documents

The entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen on Monday evening, August 8. (Terry Renna/AP)

One of the newly unsealed documents is a search warrant “receipt” listing the items that the FBI collected from Mar-a-Lago. 

That document reveals that FBI agents removed more than 20 boxes from former President Donald Trump’s resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as binders of photos, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note. 

Federal agents seized just one set of “top secret/SCI” documents, according to the search warrant receipt. Agents took four sets of “top secret” documents, three sets of “secret” documents, and three sets of “confidential” documents. 

The warrant receipt didn’t detail what these classified documents were about.

Among the items is a document about pardoning Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The Stone-related material taken from Mar-a-Lago was listed in the warrant receipt as "Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone, Jr."

Trump pardoned Stone before leaving office, shielding Stone from a three-year prison term. It’s unclear how the Stone-related document seized during the search is tied to the broader criminal probe into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified materials. 

A spokesperson for Stone told CNN: "Mr. Stone has no knowledge as to the facts surrounding his clemency documents appearing on the inventory of items seized from former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago."

During the search, FBI agents also recovered material about the “President of France,” according to the warrant receipt. 

CNN's Adam Levine contributed reporting to this post.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/trump-and-the-fbi-search-warrant-documents/?feed_id=10097&_unique_id=62f6b8205bd97

Justice Department asks to unseal Trump raid search warrant

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department asked a federal judge Thursday to unseal a search warrant that was used by FBI agents to raid the Florida home of former President Donald Trump three days earlier.

That request came after days of pressure by Republican lawmakers and other allies of Trump on the Justice Department to explain why it authorized what is believed to be the first-ever search of a former president's residence in connection with a criminal investigation.

The Justice Department is seeking to unseal just the warrant and an inventory of items seized by the FBI during the search of Trump's home at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.

But the department is not asking the judge to unseal the affidavit of probable cause, which would detail how authorities believe a crime was likely committed and why there would be evidence of that crime in the location targeted in the search.

However, the warrant itself is likely to list the criminal statutes related to the search.

Later Thursday, a group of media companies, including NBC News, The Washington Post and CNN, filed a motion in to unseal all court records related to warrant, including "all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant." NBC News is a division of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

"The Media Intervenors are news organizations and are entitled, as members of the public, to view judicial records," the filing said. "The tremendous public interest in these records in particular outweighs any purported interest in keeping them secret."

Read the Justice Department's motion to unseal the warrant here.

The Justice Department is investigating Trump for the removal of documents from the White House, and possible violations of classified information laws because of the nature of some of those documents.

"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," Garland said at a surprise press conference.

The department's motion was lodged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where Mar-a-Lago is located. It was signed by Jay Bratt, chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the National Security Division of the Justice Department.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the I-80 Speedway on May 01, 2022 in Greenwood, Nebraska.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

Garland at the press conference said, "I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter."

"The department does not take such a decision lightly," he said. "Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken."

Garland also condemned what he called "recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors" in connection with the search and related investigation.

"I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he said.

Trump's lawyer and his spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Garland's announcement, and if Trump will oppose the motion to unseal.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart later Thursday ordered the Justice Department to speak with Trump's lawyers and learn whether they will oppose the motion. Reinhart directed the Justice Department to inform him by 3 p.m. Friday of Trump's answer.

Trump in a post on his social media site after the press conference wrote that before the raid his attorneys and representatives "were cooperating fully" with the Justice Department, and "very good relationships had been established."

"The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it," Trump wrote.

"They asked us to put an additional lock on a certain area — DONE! Everything was fine, better than that of most previous Presidents, and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided at 6:30 in the morning, by VERY large numbers of agents and even 'safecrackers.' They got way ahead of themselves. Crazy."

Trump and his allies have claimed the Justice Department and Garland, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, searched Trump's residence to hurt the former president politically.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about the FBI's search warrant served at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida during a statement at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, U.S., August 11, 2022.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

FBI agents seized about a dozen boxes from Mar-a-Lago, according to Trump's lawyer.

That lawyer said agents left a copy of the search warrant, which indicated they are investigating possible violations of laws related to the Presidential Records Act and the handling of classified material.

A senior White House official told NBC News that they were unaware of what Garland would say before he took the podium at the Justice Department.

"We have had no notice that he was giving remarks and no briefing on the content of them," the official said.

The Justice Department, and Garland, have a longstanding policy about not commenting on criminal investigations before charges are filed.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/justice-department-asks-to-unseal-trump-raid-search-warrant/?feed_id=9761&_unique_id=62f5b994388ed

Congressional Republicans call Garland's remarks on Mar-a-Lago search insufficient

Congressional Republicans were quick to pan Merrick Garland's Thursday remarks on the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago -- calling the attorney general's comments insufficient and insisting the Justice Department release more information behind the unprecedented raid even as Garland said he wants the search warrant unsealed.

But GOP lawmakers said the Justice Department's motion to unseal parts of the warrant would not cut it, demanding that more information behind the search's genesis was needed given the gravity of the operation at a former president's home.

Sources previously told ABC News it was in connection to documents that Trump took with him when he departed Washington, including some records the National Archives said were marked classified.

"The primary reason the Attorney General and FBI are being pushed to disclose why the search was necessary is because of the deep mistrust of the FBI and DOJ when it comes to all things Trump," tweeted South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally.

"What I am looking for is the predicate for the search. Was the information provided to the judge sufficient and necessary to authorize a raid on the former president’s home within ninety days of the midterm election?" Graham wrote. "I am urging, actually insisting, the DOJ and the FBI lay their cards on the table as to why this course of action was necessary. Until that is done the suspicion will continue to mount."

Other Republicans directly criticized Garland, who said at a brief press conference that he signed off on the search warrant for Trump's residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

"Merrick Garland personally approved a search warrant to take down Joe Biden’s top political opponent. This is a politically-motivated witch hunt," tweeted Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

"The FBI and DOJ became politicized under Obama and this has continued under Biden. The FBI has become an attack dog to help the Democrats achieve their own political ambitions and silence dissenters," added Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went even further.

"We must defund the FBI, dismantle the DOJ, and gut the agencies of political biases and persecutions," she tweeted.

Meanwhile Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, perhaps the most visible anti-Trump Republican, wrote on Twitter: "I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search. These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk."

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 11, 2022.

ABC News

The reaction comes after days of GOP demands for Garland to release the warrant and explain the rationale behind the search.

Garland on Thursday said authorities acted by the book -- and he indicated that carrying out his duties required seeking the warrant.

"Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor," he said. "Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing."

“The search warrant was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause,” he said. A court filing from the Justice Department shows it was signed by a judge on Friday.

Included in the government's new motion to unseal parts of the warrant is a request to also unseal a redacted inventory of what was taken by agents at Mar-a-Lago.

Prosecutors wrote that Trump "should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

The judge in the case later ordered the government to consult with Trump's attorneys and report back by Friday afternoon as to whether the former president would issue any objections.

People close to Trump have been discussing the possibility of challenging the motion to unseal the warrant, according to sources familiar with his thinking.

Lawyers who are said to be representing him in this matter are not responding to requests for comment.

Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing for the warrant's release, suggesting the Justice Department's motion shows there was no wrongdoing in the search.

"A reminder: Trump could have released this paper at any time. He refused," New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler tweeted. "And now DOJ wants you to see it. AG Garland seems to have nothing to hide."

ABC News' Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/congressional-republicans-call-garlands-remarks-on-mar-a-lago-search-insufficient/?feed_id=9705&_unique_id=62f58f0e2d187

'They even broke into my safe': Trump responds to search of his Mar-a-Lago home

The FBI has executed a search warrant at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the former President confirms to CNN.
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/they-even-broke-into-my-safe-trump-responds-to-search-of-his-mar-a-lago-home/?feed_id=8424&_unique_id=62f1bed0c6bab