Republicans Call for Release of Affidavit That Justified FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid

Republicans are calling for the release of an FBI affidavit that lays out in detail the legal justification for the search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

They want to know exactly what persuaded a federal judge to issue the search warrant, given that the affidavit of the Mar-a-Lago raid has yet to be made public.

“Releasing the affidavit would help, at least that would confirm that there was justification for this raid,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Aug. 14.

A search warrant used by the FBI and an inventory of seized documents released last week after the unprecedented Aug. 8 raid, showed that Trump allegedly had four sets of top-secret documents and seven other sets of classified information at his home, and that the Justice Department conducted the search based on possible Espionage Act violations.

Trump, on the other hand, slammed the raid as “not necessary or appropriate,” arguing that he had “declassified” all of the records he took to Florida before leaving office.

GOP lawmakers deemed the FBI’s move a “witch hunt” driven by political motives, and are joining in the calls for a detailed justification.

The Justice Department should “show that this was not just a fishing expedition, that they had due cause to go in and to do this, that they did exhaust all other means,” Rounds said. “And if they can’t do that, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands. If they are able to do that and to come forward, they should do that as quickly as they can.”

‘Unprecedented Action’

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a former FBI agent, said the search of Trump’s home “was an unprecedented action that needs to be supported by unprecedented justification.”

Unlike the currently unsealed search warrant and receipt, the probable

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