At a press conference, US Attorney General Merrick Wreath said he had “personally approved the decision to seek search warrants in this matter,” and pledged to protect FBI agents and Justice Department officials who are being attacked by Trump in support of extremists. Some of them have threatened to kill. An armed man, who allegedly tried to storm the FBI’s Cincinnati office after calling for a violent response, was killed by police on Thursday after being caught by surprise amid a fermenting MAGA crowd. about the raid.
Garland did not mention the nuclear document angle in his press conference, but Washington The Post, citing “people familiar with the investigation,” said classified documents related to nuclear weapons were among the items that FBI agents searched during the search. In a post on Truth Social, his media platform, Trump said he would “not object to the release of documents relating to unwarranted, unwarranted American home invasions and raids.” and unnecessary.”
Meanwhile, there’s been plenty of speculation on social media, with Trump critics alluding to the specter of nuclear trade on the part of the former President and his family, going as far as to tie it to transactions. their business with Saudi Arabia.
“People ask why Trump keeps the (nuclear) documents. Lots of possible reasons. For example, and this example is pure speculation: Signal information about MBS & Khashoggi, or about Saudi Arabia’s nuclear weapons, is the kind of material you want in case you’re Bill Kristol, a conservative Trump critic tweeted.
People asked why Trump kept the document. Example: and this example is pure speculation: Signa… https://t.co/9nhqVpk3mE
– Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) 1660264854000
According to several media accounts, the Justice Department waited more than a year for Trump to return all classified documents and begin the raid after he ignored their requests. Garland argued that the Justice Department intended to execute the search warrant quietly without disclosing it, and that the former President himself made it public.
“The Department has submitted a motion to publicly release the warrant and receipt in light of the former president’s public endorsement of the search, the circumstances surrounding it, and the substantial public interest in the matter,” Garland said. this”.
Matters were complicated by the fact that Garland’s nomination to then-President Obama’s Supreme Court was blocked by Senate Republicans, giving him (in their eyes) an incentive to start the raid. “Karma would be Mitch McConnell blocking Merrick Garland from the Supreme Court in 2016 only for him to become AG in 2021 who takes down Donald J. Trump in 2022,” one reviewer noted.
Garland dismissed the idea that he had ulterior motives, saying, “Loyal adherence to the rule of law is a fundamental principle of the Department of Justice and our democracy. Upholding the rule of law has means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that’s exactly what the Department of Justice is doing.”
The issue has now become a political lightning rod, with Trump and his supporters alleging political conduct and even suggesting the FBI may have produced evidence during the raid.
Congressman Paul Gosar, an ardent right-wing supporter of Trump, has gone so far as to call for the FBI’s destruction to “save America.” And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who called Garland “the head of Biden’s secret police,” warned that “if Trump is elected [president]the first thing he’ll do is raid Biden’s houses one by one. ”
While some Trump critics are squabbling a bit arguing that the former President should be tried on charges ranging from stealing classified documents to treason, few believe the matter will make any difference. changing the political landscape is deeply divided. “A man could eat a baby live on national television and not a single Republican voter would object,” one analyst wrote.
