The Trump home search: Push to unseal warrant used by FBI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has called for the “immediate” release of the federal warrant the FBI used to search his Florida estate, hours after the Justice Department had asked a court to unseal the warrant, with Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the “substantial public interest in this matter.”

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.” He continued to assail the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as “unAmerican, unwarranted and unnecessary.”

“Release the documents now!” he wrote.

Trump has been provided at least some of the records the government was seeking to unseal, but he and his lawyers have declined, so far, to make them public.

The decision on whether or not to unseal the records lies with U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant. The department had until Friday afternoon to tell the judge whether Trump’s lawyers agree or disagree with their proposal to make the warrant public.

The department's request is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and that the public was entitled to the FBI's side about what prompted Monday's action at the former president's home.

“The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,” said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

Should the warrant be released, it could disclose unflattering information about Trump...