On his social media site Truth Social late Thursday night, former President Donald Trump said he won’t oppose a federal court in Florida unsealing the search warrant that authorized federal agents to search his Mar-a-Lago residence.
“Not only will I not oppose the release of the documents,” Trump said in a statement late Thursday, “I am going to step further by encouraging the immediate release of those documents.”
Trump’s comments came after the Department of Justice earlier Thursday filed a motion to unseal the search for the warrant “absent objection from the former president,” putting the ball in the former president’s court.
The former president’s legal team has until 3 pm Friday to formally respond to the Justice Department’s filing.
Document:Read the Justice Department’s motion to unseal Trump Mar-a-Lago search warrant
Latest developments:
►The Washington Post reported Thursday that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items sought by FBI agents in the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence Monday, citing anonymous sources. Trump responded on Truth Social by calling the report a “hoax.”
► The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network, filed court papers to ensure the entire search warrant that allowed FBI agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate – not just parts of it – are available to the public.
House Republicans on intelligence committee probe Mar-a-Lago search
Republican members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will offer their defense of embattled former President Donald Trump during a 9 am news conference Friday at the Capitol, where they will demand more answers about the Monday search at Mar-a-Lago.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, the lead Republican on the committee, said Thursday he was “unaware of any actual or alleged national security threat posed by any information, data or documents in the possession of former President Trump.”
A report from the Washington Post Thursday night said, “Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought” at Mar-a-Lago.
That was of concern to Rep. Val Demmings, D-Fla., one of the majority members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
“The Justice Department should continue to act with total independence as it works to safeguard classified national security secrets,” she said Thursday night.
–Candy Woodall
Unprecedented:Donald Trump’s scandals are unique in history. Here’s how.
Palm Beach Post asking court to unseal ‘entire’ Mar-a-Lago search warrant
Although the Justice Department on Thursday moved to unseal a warrant that allowed FBI agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, The Palm Beach Post filed court papers to ensure the entire warrant – not just parts of it – are available to the public.
In the motion filed late Thursday, the Post joined other news organizations that claim the release of all documents connected to the warrant is needed to rein in wild speculation about why the nation’s top law enforcement agency took the unprecedented step of asking to search the home of to former president. The request to unseal the warrant could keep key parts of it off-limits to the public, said attorney Martin Reeder, who is representing the Post.
“The scope of all the warrant materials is broader than what the government is addressing,” Reeder said. “The government is only speaking to some of these documents.”
The Palm Beach Post is part of the USA TODAY network.
Republican response:GOP, long the law and order party, slams FBI, Justice Department over search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
More:GOP Rep. Liz Cheney criticizes Republicans ‘attacking the integrity of the FBI’
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism