Washington - (AFP) - US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that he had "personally approved" the search warrant for former President Donald Trump 's Florida residence, and condemned "baseless attacks" against the FBI following the unprecedented move.

Garland did not explain the reason for the search, but stressed that there was a "probable cause" and said that he had asked the court to publish the case documents.

"I personally approved the decision to obtain the search warrant in this case," Graland said in a press conference, stressing that "the ministry does not take such a decision lightly."

The raid, which was carried out by the FBI, called for conflicting reactions in light of a sharp political division and at a time when the American billionaire is evaluating the possibility of running for the next presidential election.

Senior Republicans rushed to show support for the former president, who was not present in Mar-a-Lago when the raid was carried out.
Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president and potential 2024 challenger, expressed "deep concern" about the search of Trump's home and said it showed "partisanship" on the part of the Justice Department.

And Thursday, Dan Garland, "baseless attacks on the professionalism of FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors."

Since his term ended, Trump remains the most divisive figure, noting that he is still very popular in the Republican Party and insists on his claim that he is the winner of the 2020 elections.

And on Wednesday, Trump appeared before New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had opened a civil investigation in 2019 involving him, his daughter Ivanka, and his son Donald Jr.

Trump remained silent during the hearing, which was held on suspicion of financial fraud in his business group.

"I declined to answer questions, in accordance with the rights and powers granted by the United States Constitution to every American citizen," he said in a statement.

A civil investigation was opened against the Trump family group following the resounding testimony that Michael Cohen, one of Trump's personal lawyers, made before Congress, revealing fraudulent valuations, up or down, of the group's assets to obtain loans, tax cuts or greater compensation from insurance companies. .

Trump is under the scrutiny of investigators due to his efforts to overturn the election results in 2020 and his suspected involvement in the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.