In the weeks leading up to the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Attorney General Merrick Garland debated whether or not to sign the warrant, the Wall Street Journal reported. Garland met with Justice Department and FBI officials for weeks before making the decision to personally approve the warrant application, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ. Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick told the WSJ that Garland is “extremely careful” and “understands the critical role of an attorney general in these circumstances.” “It appreciates the context in which this is happening,” Gorelick told the WSJ. “I don’t think he’s thinking about politics at all, but I think he recognizes the seriousness of the actions against a former president.” As a result of the investigation, FBI officials seized 11 sets of classified documents stored by Trump at his office in Palm Beach, Florida. After attacks from GOP leaders and increased threats against federal officials, Garland defended the FBI and DOJ, calling them “patriotic public servants” during an Aug. 11 news conference. “I will not remain silent when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland told reporters. Garland also made the decision to unseal the warrant he signed after Trump’s “public confirmation of the investigation, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter.” Before Garland unsealed the warrant, Trump, through an intermediary, reportedly asked Garland how he could “turn down the heat” following the national uproar over the investigation. On Monday, the Justice Department requested that the search warrant affidavit remain sealed, saying its release would cause “significant and irreparable harm” to an ongoing investigation that “implicates national security.” The DOJ did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
