The allies of former President Donald Trump want the Justice Department to release information from the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago.
It looks like they may get what they wanted.
The Attorney General said at the news conference that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal parts of the warrant.
Legal experts and political strategists warn that the maneuver could backfire on the former president and his party as this year's mid-term elections loom.
GOP strategists don't know how bad this will be, according to Luis Alvarado, a GOP consultant.
The right-wing reaction to the Mar-a-Lago raid has fallen into one of two camps.
The Justice Department and the FBI were threatened by many of Trump's more hardline supporters.
The Justice Department has been asked to speak about the investigation into Trump.
Cruz demanded that the department let go of the warrant.
Cruz said the American people deserved to see it. "Now!"
There was skepticism towards those demands.
He told Insider that they were crossing their fingers that they wouldn't release the information immediately. There are still primaries going on around the country. They don't want that to fill the room.
Trump's own legal team would likely seek a court order to force the FBI and Justice Department to turn over a physical copy of the search warrant, affidavit, and a complete inventory of what was taken in the Mar
That option was rendered useless by the department's motion.
A former DOJ official who requested anonymity to discuss the subject said that the request to unseal was a big deal. It never happens. It's not usually done.
"Because of everything that's been going on the last few days, including Trump himself and his backers crying foul, the attorney general probably made an exception in this case."
There is increased interest in this. It goes to the heart of the system. People throwing stones at the DOJ and FBI have been doing that for a long time. A fair number of elected officials, as well as the former president, have questioned the DOJ and FBI.
The judge ordered the DOJ to talk to Trump's lawyers and let the court know if they agree or disagree with the government's request to unseal.
The motion will force Trump to either put up or shut up.
After Garland's news, Andrew Weissmann, a former FBI general counsel, said the ball was in Trump's court to object or consent. I called Trump's bluff.
David Weinstein, a Miami criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, told Insider that Republicans could still regret pressuring the DOJ because it will inadvertently put more pressure on Trump and his lawyers to produce their copy of the search warrant.
Several people on Trump's team, including his son Eric, did not receive copies of the warrant. Garland said Thursday that the FBI receipt and the warrant were given to Trump's lawyers.
Weinstein said that Trump and his lawyers have a copy of the search warrant that shows what laws the FBI believes have been violated. They are afraid of showing that to the world. They would be waving it around like an American flag if it was just the presidential records.
In an interview with Insider this week, a former federal prosecutor said he would be shocked if the affidavit supporting the warrant did not include probable cause that Trump violated other laws.
He said that you only get one chance to find Donald Trump's home. The Department of Justice won't blow their money if they just look at the records statute.
The former DOJ official said that Trump talked himself into moving to unseal the Mar-a-Lago search warrant.
Lawyers want their clients to shut up, according to a former official. That isn't applicable to this president. The DOJ said "You know exactly what they took" while he and his supporters screamed. There's a piece of paper that tells you what they took. You would like the world to know? It's fine
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