Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Raid: Attorney General Merrick Garland Confirms He Signed FBI Search, But Did Trump Support It?

Conservatives slammed US Attorney General Merrick Garland's presentation to the country on Thursday's FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.

Garland gave little specifics on why the raid on former President Donald Trump's Florida resort occurred during his five-minute statement, which included no time for press questions, but he did note that the search warrant and its contents will be disclosed at Trump's request.

Garland Says Personally Signed Off on Trump Mar-a-Lago Search

The only significant detail Garland did disclose was that he personally approved the execution of the search warrant on Monday evening. He also made a point of defending the FBI and the DOJ against critics who allege they have been transformed into political weapons against their political adversaries.

Conservative Twitter users were irritated that Garland provided no specifics and refused to answer any queries regarding the nature of the raid. Some chastised him for revealing he authorized the warrant, while others praised his defensive demeanor.

On Thursday, a federal court gave the Justice Department until 3 pm to respond. Friday to declare if former President Donald Trump supports or opposes the FBI's search warrant and property receipt from his Mar-a-Lago house on Monday.

The order was issued soon after Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the raid on Trump's house for the first time since it occurred. Garland stated that he signed the search warrant for the operation and that the Justice Department intends to provide additional information about it, according to Fox News.

Garland issued an in-person statement on Thursday afternoon, responding to Republican pressure to speak out against the FBI's unannounced search. He stated that the DOJ requested that the search warrant be made public given the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the great public interest in this case.

Garland would not take questions, but he went out of his way to condemn the recent verbal assaults and threats against law officers in the aftermath of the raid. His last-minute visit comes after the former president said federal authorities 'raided' his residence, breaking a padlocked door and seizing documents requested by the National Archives.

Eric Trump Claims FBI Refused to Give Warrant's Copy

The former president also has the opportunity to reply, which means he may potentially prevent its dissemination. Garland's decision to unseal the order comes after Trump's son Eric said the FBI declined to provide a copy to his father's team, while the ex-lawyer president Christina Bobb disputed that by claiming the document is in her hands.

Democrats have also increased their calls for Trump to make the warrant public. The smartphone of Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, one of Trump's closest loyalists in Congress who reportedly supported his plans to steal the 2020 election, was confiscated by FBI investigators a day after the Mar-a-Lago search.

However, that seizure was tied to another Justice Department investigation into the former president, this time into a 'fake-elections plot' that he and his associates were involved in. The raid on Trump's residence comes months after the National Archives requested that the Justice Department launch an inquiry into the Republican's handling of confidential documents, Daily Mail reported.

Minutes after Attorney General Merrick Garland's statements, former President Donald Trump wrote a comment on Truth Social criticizing predecessor Barack Obama rather than the attorney. Trump demanded to know what happened to the records Obama and his aides took with them when they departed the White House in 2017, claiming that "the Fake News Media refuses to speak about it. They want it CANCELLED!"

The cases are not the same. Obama administration officials sent their papers to their home base in Chicago via the National Archives, where they planned to scan them for inclusion in their presidential library. Trump allegedly brought boxes of materials to his Mar-a-Lago property, sparking concerns from the National Archives, which led to the present inquiry and this week's search of the president's residence, as per USA Today.