CNN analyst claims AG Merrick Garland called Trump's bluff on search warrant
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig described Merrick Garland's announcement that he called to unseal the FBI search warrant as "calling Donald Trump's bluff."
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called Donald Trump’s bluff on Thursday by announcing that he called for unsealing of the search warrant behind the FBI raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home.
After days with no direct comment, the AG revealed that he personally approved the search warrant and announced that the Department of Justice called to unseal the warrant for the public to see.
Honig joined a panel on "CNN Newsroom With Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell" to comment on what he agreed was an "unprecedented" act by Garland.
"This is a remarkable and unusual move," Honig said. "We essentially just saw Merrick Garland call Donald Trump’s bluff."
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced motions to unseal the FBI search warrant for Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. (AP/Susan Walsh)
While some legal analysts have criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the raid, leftists and media pundits praised the FBI’s actions from the start as "Christmas" coming early. However, full details regarding the search warrant beyond speculation have yet to be revealed.
Honig explained, "In the wake of this search warrant, Donald Trump has two documents, he and his lawyers. One is the search warrant itself with whatever attachments, the other is this inventory or this receipt. Now those documents are going to have important information about the search. These are the documents people have said, ‘Well, if Donald Trump wants to make an issue of this, he should release them.’ What Merrick Garland just said is, ‘We the DOJ are going to release them. We’re going to go to the judge. We’re going to ask the judge to unseal documents,’ meaning making them available to the public because DOJ policy is they will only speak about things that are on the record with the court."
Conservatives have attacked Merrick Garland for appearing to politicize the Department of Justice. (Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"So essentially Merrick Garland just said, okay, Donald Trump, you’re not going to release them, we’re going to do it, we’re going to put those documents in front of the American public," Honig added.
Conservatives slammed Garland’s announcement for refusing to provide greater details on the raid and attempting to defend the FBI and DOJ against political accusations. Media outlets have since attacked Republicans for attempting to "politicize" the agencies.
Former President Donald Trump has accused the White House of setting a coordinated attack against him. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus wrote that "there can be no accusation more unfair than that Garland, of all people, is introducing politics into the Justice Department."
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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