Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he is asking a court to unseal a search warrant officials served on the residence of former President Donald Trump.
Unsealing the search warrant would allow the public to see why the Federal Bureau of Investigations wanted a search warrant and what investigators were looking for at Mar-a-Lago.
The court filing said that the Department of Justice has not commented on the case or given its justification for seeking a search warrant. Investigators are required to obtain a judge's permission before executing a search. Generally, federal law enforcement officials don’t comment on ongoing investigations.
In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators must display probable cause that they would obtain evidence of a crime.
"I have made clear that the Department of Justice will speak through its court filings and its works," Garland said.
The judge in the case has given Trump and his lawyers until 3 p.m. Friday to raise any objections to unsealing the warrant.
The Associated Pressreported that the DOJ is investigating whether Trump took classified documents after leaving office.
The FBI and DOJ have faced immense criticism from Republicans for seeking the search warrant. Garland said he personally signed off on the search warrant, which was executed on Monday. Trump has rallied Republican allies after being served with the warrant.
"These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," Trump wrote. "Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before."
Trump said that his personal safe was opened during the search.