– It was not an easy decision, says Merrick Garland. The US Department of Justice has asked to make public the warrant that led to the search of Mar-a-lago this week.
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– Faithful compliance with the rule of law is the basic principle of the Ministry of Justice and our democracy. Upholding the law, without fear, is exactly what the Justice Department is doing.
This is what the Minister of Justice in the United States, Merrick Garland, says during the first public press briefing The FBI search of Trump’s luxury villa Mar-a-lago on Tuesday night.
– The ministry has asked to make the search warrant public, in light of the fact that the former president confirmed the search, and the considerable public attention surrounding it, says the Minister of Justice.
The White House was not notified in advance of Garland’s statements, writes Reuters.
Garland went on to say that he personally approved the search of Trump’s home, but that the department does not take such decisions lightly.
– When possible, the practice is to use less intrusive means, instead of a search, he says.
Trump and several of his Republican supporters have accused President Joe Biden’s attorney general of using the judiciary as a political weapon against him, writes NTB.
During the press conference, the Minister of Justice wanted to address what he called “unfounded attacks on the FBI and the prosecution’s professionalism”.
– I will not sit idly by when their integrity is attacked. The men and women of the Department of Justice are dedicated, patriotic servants. Every day, they protect Americans from violent crimes, terrorism, and other threats to their safety.
Garland stated that the search warrant was authorized by a federal court.
–Former President Trump received a subpoena this spring, after investigators believed he had not handed over classified documents earlier in the year. This printer New York Times.
The US Department of Justice had previously made a legal request to have the documents returned FBI agents searched Trump’s home in Florida on Tuesday night.
AFP is informed by several sources that the search is linked to 15 boxes of documents, which the former president had to return to the National Archives in February.
“My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Peach, Florida, is now under siege, being searched, and is being occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a statement after the search.
According to Just the newstwo months before the search, Trump is said to have voluntarily cooperated by handing over security tapes and allowing agents and a senior Justice Department lawyer to examine his private storage locker.
Some of Trump’s supporters say that the petition shows that the former president and his people cooperated with the Ministry of Justice to find and return the relevant documents, and that there was therefore no basis for searching the luxury property in Florida, writes NTB.
The subpoena suggests that the Justice Department tried methods other than a search warrant to account for the documents, before sending agents to Trump’s home, where they believed the documents might be located, writes the New York Times.
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