Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding documents and communication records from the Biden White House, Department of Justice, and FBI over the unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home last week.
In letters addressed to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Judiciary Republicans are putting the Biden administration on blast for its “weaponization of law-enforcement resources against its political opponents,” while calling for “transparency and accountability” from the country’s “most senior law-enforcement officials in the executive branch.”
“We will settle for nothing but your complete cooperation with our inquiry,” the letters read.
Among the records sought by Republicans include all documents and communications pertaining to “the execution of a search warrant” and “the decision to seek a search warrant” for Trump’s estate, as well as “the use of confidential human source(s) in connection with the search of President Trump’s residence.”
Also included in the list of demands are any communication records and documents “between or among the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Executive Office of the President” regarding the targeted raid. The letter to Klain also demanded records sent between or among the Executive Office of the President and “the National Archives and Records Administration about the Trump Administration’s presidential records.”
“Please provide this material as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 29, 2022,” the letters read.
In addition to the August 29 deadline, House Judiciary Republicans have also requested that Biden White House, DOJ, and FBI “preserve all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that are or may be potentially responsive to this inquiry,” suggesting that the GOP is preparing to launch strong oversight measures if they take control of Congress after the 2022 midterms.
The FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home has sent shockwaves throughout the country, especially after the search warrant authorizing the government raid became public late last week. As reported by Federalist Western Correspondent Tristan Justice, “the warrant demanded confiscation of any document Trump ever saw, read, or created for the entirety of his four years as commander-in-chief.”
“On Monday, three days after the warrant was signed, FBI officials conducted the hours-long raid of the 128-room estate which reportedly included an intrusive search of former First Lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe,” Justice wrote. “While ostensibly executed under the pretext of violations of the Presidential Records Act, a law that rarely results in prosecutions, the raid has become the latest episode of Democrats weaponizing the Justice Department to go after political opponents, with Trump at the top as public enemy No. 1.”
The affidavit purportedly demonstrating probable cause has not been released to the public by the DOJ or “the federal court that sealed it.”
Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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