Mar-a-Lago raid: FBI looking for nuclear weapons documents, WaPo reports

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The FBI was looking for documents about nuclear weapons at Mar-a-Lago, according to The Washington Post.
• The Justice Department has not specified what it was after in the search.
• Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday he was moving to have the search warrant released to the public.

Classified documents related to nuclear weapons were among the items the FBI was searching for during a raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Monday, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the investigation.

The people, who were unnamed, did not provide details on whether the documents concerned nuclear weapons belonging to the US or other nations. It’s unclear if the documents were recovered in the search. 

The Justice Department has not said what it was seeking in the search, but Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday he was moving to have the search warrant made available to the public.

Garland confirmed he had personally signed off on the decision to seek a search warrant.

“The department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter,” Garland said.

People briefed on the documents the FBI was seeking told The New York Times they were so sensitive and important to national security that the Justice Department had no choice but to try and recover them.

Legal experts said federal officials likely obtained a high degree of probable cause before a judge signed off on the search warrant, given the sensitive nature of conducting such a raid on a former president.

Since the search was carried out and publicized by Trump on Monday, many Republican lawmakers have demanded an explanation from the Justice Department on what warranted the search. Before Garland’s announcement on Thursday, the Justice Department and FBI had offered no comment.

The judge who approved the search warrant has instructed the Justice Department to consult with Trump’s lawyers and let the court know by Friday afternoon if the former president plans to try and block its release.

Trump has not shared his copy of the FBI warrant but his lawyers can challenge the Justice Department’s motion to unseal the record.

Source: Newsweek