Newsy's parent company, E.W. Scripps, joined other major media organizations in filing a motion seeking to unseal all the documentsrelated to the FBI search warrant of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence Monday.
Scripps — along with CNN, NBC and The Washington Post — believe the public interest outweighs any argument in favor of keeping the records sealed, noting "the historic importance of these events."
"Before the events of this week, not since the Nixon Administration had the federal government wielded its power to seize records from a former President in such a public fashion," the outlets said in the filing.
The companies filed the request Thursday through the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, shortly after the Justice Department submitted its own request to unseal some warrant materials, like the release of the "search warrant and property receipt" from the FBI's search.
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However, the outlets are looking to obtain more; this includes the actual search warrants, the warrant application, "all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant" and any motion to seal the "warrant-related records," and any other additional records filed with the court.
In order to petition for access to files, the outlets invoked their First Amendment rights.
"Both the First Amendment and the common law protect the media and the general public's right of access to judicial proceedings and records," the outlets said in the filing.
In response to the DOJ's request to unseal documents Thursday, Trump called for the "immediate" release of the federal warrant the FBI used to search his home.
"Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents." He continued to assail the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as "unAmerican, unwarranted and unnecessary."
"Release the documents now!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
The Mar-a-Lago search warrant, served earlier this week, was part of an ongoing DOJ investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump's home earlier this year, after the National Archives had asked officials to investigate.
Trump has yet to comment on the motion filed by the outlets.
