The Justice Department is asking a federal court to unseal the warrant the FBI used to search the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday.

Garland cited the “substantial public interest in this matter” in announcing the request at a hastily scheduled Justice Department news conference.

The request was striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the Justice Department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter attacks from the former president and his allies, and Garland felt it wise to respond to the widespread demands for details about what led to the FBI action.

Watch a full replay of the news conference in the video player above.

“The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,” said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday seeking the unsealing.

Should the warrant be released — the request is now with the judge, and Trump can object — it could disclose unflattering information about the former president and about FBI scrutiny of his handling of sensitive government documents right as he prepares for another run for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

It's unclear at this point how much information would be included in the documents, if made public, or if they would encompass an FBI affidavit that would presumably lay out a detailed factual basis for the search. The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of one's home.

Neither Trump nor the FBI has said anything about what documents the FBI might have recovered, or what precisely agents were looking for. But the former president complained anew Thursday about the search.

Trump, who for years has lambasted the FBI and sought to sow distrust among his supporters in its decisions, said the warrant was served and the search conducted despite his cooperation with the Justice Department.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that his “attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully” prior to the search, and that government officials “could have had whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, if we had it."

The Justice Department has until Friday afternoon to alert the judge about whether Trump will object to the release.

FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of probes and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. That’s especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, “as his right." The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court's functions.

Even so, Garland, in a hastily scheduled public statement delivered from the Justice Department podium, appeared to acknowledge the unusual nature of the department's request as he declined to take questions or provide any substantive details about the FBI's investigation.

“Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations," he said. "Federal law, longstanding department rules and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.”

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email — and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year. The National Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying that classified records were found in 15 boxes of records that it retrieved from the estate. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information.

The attorney general condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded, and large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released because they believe it will show that Trump was wrongly targeted.

“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them “dedicated, patriotic public servants.”

Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement.

WASHINGTON — Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre.

The $88 million deal — which includes $63 million for the families of the slain and $25 million for survivors of the shooting — was set to be announced Thursday in Washington.

“The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a horrific hate crime that caused immeasurable suffering for the families of the victims and the survivors,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday. “Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has sought to bring justice to the community, first by a successful hate crime prosecution and today by settling civil claims.”

Roof killed nine people at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study.

Weeks before the church shooting, Roof was arrested by police in Columbia, South Carolina, on a drug possession charge. But a series of clerical errors and missteps allowed Roof to buy the handgun he later used in the killings.

When Roof purchased the gun, NBC News reports that the FBI examiner conducting the background check was told by deputies in Lexington County, South Carolina, to contact the Columbia Police about the drug charge. However, FBI databases did not have a record for the Columbia Police Department — only the West Columbia Police Department.

The FBI examiner never heard back from Lexington County officials about the clerical error, and Roof was able to purchase the gun after a three-day waiting period.

Roof has since pleaded guilty to multiple charges stemming from the shooting, including nine counts of murder.

WASHINGTON —

The Justice Department on Thursday said it was launching a widespread probe into the police force in Phoenix to examine whether officers have been using excessive force and abusing people experiencing homelessness.

The investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department is the third sweeping civil investigation into a law enforcement agency brought by the Justice Department in the Biden administration and comes as the department has worked to shift its priorities to focus on policing and civil rights. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the probe will also examine whether police have engaged in discriminatory policing practices and will work to determine if officers have retaliated against people engaged in protected First Amendment activities.

In June, the top prosecutor in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, permanently dismissed charges that included gang allegations against more than a dozen people arrested at an October 2020 protest against police brutality.

The move came amid complaints from civil rights advocates that Phoenix police and prosecutors were pursuing gang charges as part of abusive political prosecutions intended to silence dissent and scare protesters.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, hailed the Justice Department investigation and said it will help with ongoing police reform measures she has been pushing since taking office in 2019.

"Public safety reform is an ongoing process in Phoenix, and now, with the help of the USDOJ, this robust program will continue," Gallego said in a statement.

The city also plans to start a new program this year to respond to mental health calls by placing behavioral health professionals in the field. The city also has a new office of police accountability that is charged with independently investigating allegations of wrongdoing by officers.

That office may be hamstrung, however, by a new state law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that limits civilian review boards like the one Phoenix has set up.

City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, a frequent defender of Phoenix police, said the department "has been under extreme attack by activists bent on defunding the police."

"I welcome another set of eyes to see what we already know: that we have a department staffed by dedicated individuals who go to great lengths to protect our community, and do so honorably and fairly," he said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which has sued Phoenix police in the past for actions against protesters, said the investigation was needed to force the department to change.

"This is not a case of a few bad apples – Phoenix PD has deep-rooted, systemic problems with the way it treats community members," Victoria Lopez, the group's advocacy and legal director, said in a statement.

Part of the investigation will also examine whether police officers have been violating the rights of people who are experiencing homelessness by "seizing and disposing of their belongings in a manner that violates the Constitution," Garland said.

The new investigation is known as a "pattern or practice" — examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing — and is generally a sweeping review of the entire police department.

In announcing the probe, Garland also pointed to what he described as "straining the policing profession by turning to law enforcement to address a wide array of social problems."

"Too often we asked law enforcement officers to be the first and last option for addressing issues that should not be handled by our criminal justice system," he said "This makes police officers' jobs more difficult, increases unnecessary confrontations with law enforcement and hinders public safety."

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said investigators will meet with police officers and supervisors, review body camera video, along with training materials and other records. She said the Justice Department spoke with Phoenix city officials and they had expressed support for the probe.

"Protecting the rule of law demands that those who enforce our laws also abide by them," Clarke said.

The Justice Department had reviewed an array of publicly available information, including lawsuits and news reports before it decided to open the Phoenix investigation, Clarke said.

The police force has come under fire in recent years for its handling of protests and the high number of shootings. One lawsuit alleged that police and prosecutors colluded to target protesters during a demonstration last summer. In February, a local television station reported that a team of police officers had celebrated shooting a protester in the groin during another protest with commemorative coins they would share.

"We found that the evidence here warrants a full investigation, but we approach this process with no predispositions or pre-drawn conclusions," Clarke said.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams defended the department and the reforms it has made in recent years at a news briefing. But she said she is open to any Justice Department recommendations.

"The Department of Justice inquiry is another opportunity to further improve the department and to better serve our city," Williams said. "Wearing the badge is a privilege, not a right. I'll say that again, wearing this badge is a privilege, not a right."

"The majority of our officers out there act every day with professionalism and compassion," she added.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department announced it was opening similar investigation into police forces in Minneapolis, after the death of George Floyd, and in Louisville, Kentucky, after the death of Breonna Taylor.

___

Christie reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed

Related video above: Simone Biles opens up about sexual abuse

FBI officials investigating allegations of sexual abuse by disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar violated the agency's policies by making false statements and failing to properly document complaints by the accusers, resulting in a delay in the probe into the claims, the Justice Department's inspector general said in a scathing report Wednesday.

The Office of the Inspector General found that senior officials in the FBI Indianapolis Field Office failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond, and violated multiple FBI policies when undertaking their investigative activity.

The probe was opened in 2018 to see whether the FBI and its field offices dragged their feet to respond to allegations of sexual assault made by gymnasts and the USA Gymnastics organization in 2015 and 2016.

The release of the 119-page report comes a little over a year after more than 120 of the survivors asked the Justice Department to make the findings public.

The bureau said in a statement that the "actions and inactions of certain FBI employees described in the report are inexcusable and a discredit to this organization," adding that it has taken action to "ensure and has confirmed that those responsible for the misconduct and breach of trust no longer work FBI matters."

Nassar, 57, is serving a 40-to-174-year state prison sentence after 156 women and girls said he sexually abused them over the course of 20 years.

The former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor pleaded guilty in November 2017 to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct for using his profession as a cover to sexually abuse his patients.

Nassar also pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and separate state criminal sexual conduct charges in Eaton County.

"According to civil court documents, approximately 70 or more young athletes were allegedly sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment between July 2015, when USA Gymnastics first reported allegations about Nassar to the Indianapolis Field Office, and September 2016," the report reads. "For many of the approximately 70 or more athletes, the abuse by Nassar began before the FBI first became aware of allegations against Nassar and continued into 2016. For others, the alleged abuse began after USA Gymnastics reported the Nassar allegations to the Indianapolis Field Office in July 2015."

The report says Indianapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott and another unidentified supervisory special agent conducted a "limited follow-up" investigation in 2015 that included "a handful of email exchanges" and five pages of handwritten notes. The officials also neglected to interview two of the three accusers who were available for interviews, the report says.

Josh Minkler, an attorney for Abbott, told CNN in a statement that his client has received and reviewed a copy of the report.

"Mr. Abbott thanks the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who brought Larry Nassar to justice. Mr. Abbott hopes the courageous victims of Nassar's horrible crime find peace," Minkler said.

The report also said that the Indianapolis Field Office "did not advise state or local authorities about the allegations and did not take any action to mitigate the risk to gymnasts that Nassar continued to treat."

The unnamed agent was demoted and his status with the FBI is pending review by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility. Abbott retired in January 2018.

"When the FBI's handling of the Nassar matter came under scrutiny from the public, Congress, the media, and FBI headquarters in 2017 and 2018, Indianapolis officials did not take responsibility for their failures," the report said. Instead, the agency "provided incomplete and inaccurate information," and after Abbott retired he also provided inaccurate information to the media "to make it appear that the Indianapolis office had been diligent in its follow-up efforts and they did so, in part, by blaming others for their own failures," according to the report.

Douglas Leff, the assistant director of the FBI's Inspection Division, said following the report's release that the officials' actions were "completely unacceptable."

During the eight months the FBI was supposed to be investigating the gymnasts' claims, Abbott met with a high-ranking official with the USA Gymnastics organization at a bar to discuss a potential job offer with the Olympics security detail when he retired, according to the report.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office learned about the same allegations from the three gymnasts in May 2016, where it "appreciated the utmost seriousness of the Nassar allegations and took numerous investigative steps upon learning of them" but it, too, did not notify local authorities, the report says.

"Simply put, the behavior described in the report is not representative of the FBI or of our tens of thousands of retirees and current employees," Leff wrote in a letter Tuesday that's included in the report. "To the extent the review reveals additional misconduct by FBI employees, we will similarly act promptly as warranted upon OPR's adjudication."

John Manly, an attorney for more than 150 of the women and girls Nassar sexually abused, urged the Justice Department to criminally charge the agents who mishandled the investigation, saying in a statement on Wednesday that "those responsible need to be held to account, with all the force the law can provide."

"When an ordinary American citizen lies to the FBI in the course of an investigation, they are prosecuted, yet no charges have been filed against anyone as a result of this five-year investigation," Manly said. "The FBI betrayed generations of Olympic champions. It betrayed the hundreds of children Nassar savaged, and it betrayed the American people's trust."

Nassar is housed at the high-security U.S. Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida. His release date, according to online Federal Bureau of Prisons records, is Jan. 30, 2068.

Related video above: Trump Administration secretly seized phone and email records of reporters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats called for an investigation on Thursday after The New York Times reported that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump seized the communications data of members of the House Intelligence Committee.

"The news about the politicization of the Trump Administration Justice Department is harrowing," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. "These actions appear to be yet another egregious assault on our democracy waged by the former president."

The Times reported Thursday that the DOJ subpoenaed Apple for data from at least two committee members, as well as aides and family members, in 2017 and 2018. The Times report anonymously cited committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry.

Among those whose records were seized was California Rep. Adam Schiff, then the top Democrat on the committee.

Rep. Schiff: Subpoenas were extremely broad

Schiff, now the panel's chair, said in a statement Thursday night: "Though we were informed by the Department in May that this investigation is closed, I believe more answers are needed, which is why I believe the Inspector General should investigate this and other cases that suggest the weaponization of law enforcement by a corrupt president."

The Times reported that the subpoenas came as the DOJ was trying to hunt down the sources of leaks that had led to news stories about contacts between Trump associates and Russia.