Former President Donald Trump joined other Republicans in calling for the Justice Department to release "the completely Unredacted Affidavit" related to last week's FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago.
GOP members have demanded that the DOJ release the affidavit showing the justification for its seizure of documents at Trump's Florida home.
"There is no way to justify the unannounced RAID of Mar-a-Lago," Trump wrote late Monday night on Truth Social, "the home of the 45th President of the United States (who got more votes, by far, than any sitting President in the history of our Country!), by a very large number of gun toting FBI Agents, and the Department of "Justice" but, in the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN. Also, the Judge on this case should recuse!"
The DOJ on Monday rebuffed efforts to make public the affidavit, saying the investigation "implicates highly classified material" and the document contains sensitive information about witnesses.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, the U.S. attorney in Miami, and Jay Bratt, a top Justice Department national security official, argued in a court filing that making the affidavit public would "cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation."
The government's opposition came after several news organizations went to court seeking to unseal the underlying affidavit submitted when it asked for a search warrant.
A search warrant released last week following the raid showed that Trump had 11 sets of classified documents at his home, and that the Justice Department had probable cause to conduct the search based on possible Espionage Act violations.
Trump and allies, however, say the documents had been declassified.
The former president on Monday said that the FBI seized his passports during the raid.
"Wow! In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three passports (one expired), along with everything else," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our country. Third world!"
Earlier Monday, Trump lambasted the raid as a "sneak attack on democracy" that was conducted purely for political reasons.
"America has never suffered this kind of ABUSE in Law Enforcement!" Trump posted on Truth Social. "For the FBI to RAID the home of the 45 President of the United States, or any President for that matter, is totally unheard of and unthinkable.
"This Break In was a sneak attack on democracy (our Republic!), and was both unannounced and done at a time when the President was not even present. It was for political, not legal reasons, and our entire Country is angry, hurt, and greatly embarrassed by it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.