AG Garland breaks silence on raid of Trump home, defends FBI
Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks on the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senators James Lankford and Rick Scott are demanding that the Senate be briefed by the FBI, Department of Justice and National Archives regarding the "unprecedented" raid of former President Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
The raid was related to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) effort to collect records and classified materials the former president allegedly took with him from Washington, D.C., to Mar-a-Lago, a matter the agency referred to the Justice Department.
Lankford, R-Okla., and Scott, R-Fla., who sit on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), are asking the Democratic chair of the committee, Sen. Gary Peters, Mich., to fulfill its role of providing oversight and arrange a briefing.
In a letter to Peters first obtained by Fox News Digital, Lankford and Scott say: "Due to the weight of this matter Congress cannot be left guessing the intentions of the FBI and DOJ. This is unprecedented action and the FBI and DOJ must be fully transparent about their motivation and objectives. A members briefing must be held immediately."
TRUMP FBI RAID: AGENTS SEIZE MAR-A-LAGO DOCUMENTS IN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE: LIVE UPDATES
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday during a press conference that he "personally approved" the decision to seek a search warrant for Trump's private residence at Mar-a-Lago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"President Trump and his lawyers had reportedly been in negotiations for months with NARA to resolve the matter and Justice Department (DOJ) officials had visited Mar-a-Lago just two months ago. The escalation from negotiations with the DOJ to the execution of a search warrant where boxes of documents were removed raises many significant questions," they continue.
Merrick Garland, U.S. attorney general, speaks during the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The senators point out that compliance with the Presidential Records Act is overseen by NARA, which HSGAC has jurisdiction over.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday during a press conference that he "personally approved" the decision to seek a search warrant for Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago, saying DOJ has filed a motion to unseal the search warrant and property receipt from the FBI's raid amid "substantial public interest" in the matter. He also defended the "integrity" of law enforcement officials.
DOJ has filed a motion to unseal the search warrant and property receipt from the FBI's raid amid "substantial public interest" in the matter, while defending the "integrity" of law enforcement officials. (Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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A request for comment by Peters was not immediately returned.
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