Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called for a “thorough and immediate explanation” in the wake of the FBI’s search at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
“Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately,” he said in a statement.
“The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday,” he stressed.
McConnell’s first comments on the FBI’s action were voiced a day after the raid took place. He refused to make remarks about the incident when asked by the press earlier in the day when he was in Kentucky.
“I’m here to talk about the flood and recovery from the flood,” McConnell responded.
The minority leader was in his home state in the aftermath of the devastating flood that has taken the lives of dozens of people.
McConnell’s comment added to the list of Republican lawmakers who had been requesting Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide an explanation for the search.
A member of the Secret Service in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
Summon Hearing
In an interview with Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) also called for oversight in the wake of the unprecedented raid on the former president.The ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee called on the committee chair, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), to summon Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray for a hearing late this week.
“Jerry Nadler, call up Christopher Ray, call up Merrick Garland, bring them to the front of the House Judiciary Committee so we can ask them the questions that the American people deserve answers to,” he appealed.
Jordan further called for the heads of the two agencies to answer questions in front of the Judiciary Committee in relation to the search warrant that they executed.
“What was on the warrant? What were you really doing? What were you looking for? Why not talking to President Trump and having given the information you’re after?” Jordan asked.
The top Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.) also chimed in, pressing Wray to justify the unannounced search.
“If the FBI isn’t extraordinarily transparent about its justification for yesterday’s actions and committed to rooting out political bias that has infected their most sensitive investigations, they will have sealed their own fate,” Grassley said.
Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump stand outside his residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida on Aug. 8, 2022. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
Search Reason Unexplained
Meanwhile, the agency still stays mum about the reason for the Mar-a-Lago raid despite pressure from Republican lawmakers.The FBI executed a search warrant approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Aug. 5, court records show. Reinhart issued the order in response to multiple requests, including a warrant for electronic communications suspected to be relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation, according to docket entries.
Eric Trump declared earlier that the raid was conducted to see whether his father possessed any potential confidential documents from his time in office.
Earlier this year, Trump returned 15 boxes of records kept at the Mar-a-Largo resort to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which it said contained materials marked as classified national security information. Federal agents reportedly searched for additional documents at the property on Monday.
Lorenz Duchamps contributed to this report.
