Since Monday, the media and lawmakers have been taking aim at the Department of Justice for the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, speculating about the reasoning behind the search.
For three days, Attorney General Merrick Garland kept silent, but he broke that silence on Thursday (August 11) when he announced that the DOJ would be moving to unseal the warrant, which authorized the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
The search — and particularly the reasoning behind the pursuit of the warrant — had been a subject of criticism for most of the week.
To defend the FBI and DOJ against such attacks, Garland gave a press conference from the DOJ headquarters, where he stated, “I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” adding that the bureau and the department had received “unfounded attacks” on their professionalism.
Garland continued his defense, saying the “men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants.”
Since Monday’s FBI Raid, the Attorney General had been under pressure to speak on the search, despite the DOJ typically remaining silent on ongoing investigations.
But that silence has been filled by pundits, GOP lawmakers, and former President Donald Trump, with suggestions that the FBI may have planted evidence at Trump’s residence.
During Thursday’s press conference, Garland pushed back on those suggestions and shifted the onus onto Trump to agree to have the documents unsealed.
Later Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social his support for unsealing the documents, despite his legal team having a copy of the warrant and a list of documents seized which he can release to the public.
