AG Merrick Garland Says He ‘Personally Approved’ FBI’s Trump Raid

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday provided the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) first public statement about the FBI raid targeting former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence earlier this week, coming as both the FBI and DOJ have issued virtually no comments on the unprecedented incident.

Garland told reporters that his agency filed a motion Thursday to unseal the court-approved search warrant that was executed at a home “belonging to the former president,” after Trump confirmed the raid, “as is his right.”

“I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter … the Department does not take such an action lightly,” Garland said.

He said copies of the warrant were provided to Trump’s lawyers on Monday by FBI agents.

The attorney general claimed that FBI agents are “patriotic” and “dedicated” public servants who protect Americans against violent crime and terrorism. “I am honored to work alongside them,” he said.

So far, the Justice Department and FBI have remained mostly mum about the purpose and probable cause behind the raid and have repeatedly declined to publicly comment to The Epoch Times and other news outlets. Only alleged anonymous sources within the FBI and Justice Department have sporadically provided details about the incident to legacy media since Monday.

A day before Garland’s statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray declined to speak about the FBI search, saying that it is “not something I can talk about, and I’d refer you to the department.”

The White House, meanwhile, said it was not aware of the FBI raid before it was announced by Trump earlier this week. On Tuesday, when asked by reporters about what Garland told him, President Joe Biden did not answer.

The judge who reportedly signed off on the warrant in the case, Bruce Reinhart, ordered the Justice Department on Wednesday to

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