https://thehill.com/regulation/3597452-doj-asks-court-to-unseal-trump-search-warrant/The Justice Department on Thursday moved to unseal a warrant authorizing a search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this week following escalating demands for answers about the unprecedented investigation.
Trump’s attorneys were provided a copy of the warrant and a receipt listing the seized materials, the Justice Department said in its court filing. The former president’s legal team has not publicly released those documents but his lawyer Christina Bobb has said during media appearances this week that the search concerned potentially classified information being stored at the Florida property.
The court filing on Thursday also cited Trump’s own public comments as well as commentary from his legal team about the search as a reason for why it should be made public.
“As such, the occurrence of the search and indications of the subject matter involved are already public,” the DOJ lawyers wrote.
Trump will have an opportunity to argue against unsealing the materials if he disagrees with the move. Attorneys representing the former president did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
The New York Times and the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch have both filed similar motions to unseal the search warrant and accompanying materials in recent days.
In addition to the search warrant itself, the sealed materials at issue include the FBI’s inventory of what it seized during Monday’s search and likely a law enforcement affidavit laying out the basis to suspect there was evidence of criminal conduct at Mar-a-Lago.
