After Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that he had personally approved of the request that led to a raid on Mar-a-Lago on Monday, he also said he had filed a motion to unseal the warrant and property receipt, pending approval from the other party involved — former President Donald Trump — and assent from the magistrate judge who approved the warrant.
Just after midnight on Friday, President Trump released a statement calling for authorities to "release the documents now!" — a call which came to fruition later Friday afternoon when Trump's attorneys filed their official consent to the documents' release.
Even before Friday's 3:00 p.m. ET deadline for the filing regarding the motion to unseal the documents, several news outlets obtained copies of the warrant and property receipt showing what FBI agents seized during their raid and what crimes allegedly committed by the 45th president are being investigated by the Department of Justice.
The documents show that the federal magistrate judge — Bruce Reinhart, as Townhall previously reported — granted the warrant on the afternoon of August 5th with permission for the search to be carried out during "daytime" hours (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.), though the raid wasn't carried out until August 8th.
Unsealed search & seizure warrant for the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago: pic.twitter.com/PL5t9TY0tD
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) August 12, 2022
Unsealed receipt of property for the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago: pic.twitter.com/0Q9sBuSmbL
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) August 12, 2022
The raid documents also reveal that nearly one dozen sets of documents considered classified were removed — though Trump has asserted they were "all declassified" under his presidential authority as the ultimate decider of classification — some of which were listed as "Various classified/TS/SCI documents." The documentation from the raid also listed documents labeled as "Info re: President of France" and the executive document granting clemency to Roger Stone were among items seized. Also on the property receipt are entries for "Potential Presidential Record," "Binder of photos," and "Handwritten note."
Per the FBI search warrant, receipt signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb, property to be seized includes, "All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime or other items illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 793, 2071, or 1519"
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) August 12, 2022
The raid documents also included indications that President Trump is under investigation by the Department of Justice for violating three federal statutes: concealment, removal or mutilation of federal records; gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act; and destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations. The documents were signed in acknowledgement by Trump attorney Christina Bobb.
Whether those alleged infractions are borne out by the facts of what was seized in the raid remains to be seen, as the statutes were invoked as basis for the raid and are not necessarily backed up by existing facts.
The warrant approved by the judge allowed federal agents to search "the 45 office" plus "all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used" by Trump and his staff along with areas "in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate" at Mar-a-Lago.
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