President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland admitted on Thursday that he personally approved the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, which was raided by federal agents on Monday. Garland also said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will unseal the search warrant and property receipt relating to the raid.
“I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter,” Garland said, adding that the “department does not take such a decision lightly.”
Garland claimed copies of both the warrant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) property receipt were provided on the day of the search to Trump’s counsel “who was on site during the search.”
“Just now, the Justice Department has filed a motion in the Southern District of Florida to unseal a search warrant and property receipt relating to a court approved search that the FBI conducted earlier this week,” he said. “That search was a premises located in Florida belonging to the former president.”
Garland asserted that his decision was made in accordance with the “faithful adherence to the rule of law,” which he described as “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,” Garland said. “Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing. All Americans are entitled to the evenhanded application of the law, to due process of the law, and to the presumption of innocence.”
The attorney general then went on to portray the DOJ and FBI as victims of “unfounded attacks” targeting agents’ and prosecutors’ professionalism.
“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants,” Garland said, adding that he is “honored to work alongside them.”
“This is all I can say right now. More information will be made available in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time,” Garland concluded.
On Monday, Trump said in a statement that his home was “currently under siege, raided and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” and added that agents “even broke into my safe.”
“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections,” Trump said.
