We're beginning here with breaking news.

The U.S. government searched the home of its former leader for criminal evidence this week.

Now, today, for the first time, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, Attorney General Merrick Garland, spoke out about that unprecedented legal action.

And he explained to the nation in brief, spare, objective, and at times, even honestly, dry terms,

what exactly they are doing. And that this grave step was taken carefully after the Attorney General says they exhausted the

other less intrusive options, and he put it on record for the nation that he personally

approved of this legal measure.

I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter.

Second, the department does not take such a decision lightly.

Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means.

Less intrusive means is exactly what the DOJ was, according to Garland, doing up until this search.

Now, he spoke for just a few minutes. He took no questions. He emphasized that prosecutors will continue to approach this case with independent, nonpartisan rigor to uphold the rule of law.

Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear, or favor.

Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.

There you have it. It may sound like general terms, and that's very deliberate.

This attorney general, so attacked and maligned by the former president, is going out of his way,

not to reveal anything that would not be legally proper, while also defending, as he has every

right to do, what the department is doing, as well as explaining

at a level that's legally valid, what they're doing. So that's significant on its own. But there is

way more news. It's what we just mentioned in the handoff into the beat tonight, Garland, announcing

that this Justice Department sees a legal and valid path to providing even more facts

about that search of Mar-a-Lago. And that is why today, and this is big news, in some ways,

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