(NewsNation) — U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made his first statement Thursday on the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Ashleigh Banfield, who hosts NewsNation’s “Banfield” every weekday at 10/9 CST, joined “Rush Hour” to give her reaction which, in addition to believing his appearance was a direct response to increased public scrutiny, says she thinks they actually may have found something substantive.
“I don’t think that Merrick Garland would have pushed himself on the line like this, not even four days after the search Mar-a-Lago. If they hadn’t found something,” Banfield said Thursday.
“Because if you didn’t have the goods — let’s just say they executed that warrant and there was bupkis — I don’t think he would have done this today. I think he would have waited a few weeks until the rhetoric died down and then may dumped this this information on a Friday night at 9 o’clock, maybe on Labor Day.
“So I think by virtue of the fact that it’s only been four days and he was pretty stride when he stood up at a podium, I think they’ve got something,” Banfield said.
In addition, Banfield said she was not surprised that Garland made an appearance, given the social atmosphere over the past couple of days.
“I pretty much expected that, given the fact that the federal magistrate in Florida has had to have his profile scrubbed from the federal DOJ website down there because of the death threats and danger to him personally,” Banfield said .
At the news conference Thursday. Garland also said that the Justice Department is seeking to unseal the search warrant from that day and that he personally signed off on the request — which did catch Banfield by surprise.
“Did I expect him to say more? Heck no. Was I surprised at how much he said? Actually, yes, because I didn’t expect him to say that they’re going to make this petition to unseal the warrant,” she continued.
“This matter plainly ‘concerns public officials or public concerns,’” a Justice Department court filing said. “The public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing.”
Watch the full exchange above.