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The Justice Department on Friday made the affidavit used to support the FBI’s historic search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence publicly available after it had undergone extensive redaction.
The Trump raid affidavit was subject to proposed redactions by the Justice Department, which were submitted under seal on Thursday morning. West Palm Beach magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart ruled on Thursday afternoon that the DOJ was required to submit the redacted affidavit on the public docket by noon on Friday.
The magistrate judge, who had also authorized the August 8 raid’s search warrant, also said he supported the DOJ’s decision to redact large portions of the affidavit.
Just days after agreeing to unseal the FBI warrant for the search of Trump’s Florida club, the DOJ last week declared its opposition to the disclosure of the basis for the search.
The integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that involves national security is among the many strong factors that still warrant keeping the affidavit confidential, according to DOJ lawyers.
Trump has demanded that the affidavit be made public in its entirety.
According to the Presidential Records Act, the political hacks and thugs had no authority to storm Mar-a-Lago and grab anything they could find, including passports and sensitive documents. Can you believe they even used a safecracker to get into my safe? On Friday morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “This Act was enacted with noble intentions, and it is effective. We currently reside in a lawless country that also happens to be a failing country!
More information about what the Justice Department was seeking for in the raid was disclosed on the cover page of the released search warrant application.
According to the papers, Trump was under investigation for violating the Espionage Act’s 18 U.S.C. 793, which relates to “willful retention of national security secrets.” The unsealed cover sheet referred to 18 U.S.C. 1519, which explicitly dealt with “obstruction of federal investigation,” and 18 U.S.C. 2071, which specifically dealt with “concealment or removal of government records.”
In a request submitted on Monday, Trump asked a judge to order the appointment of a special master and to halt the Justice Department’s further assessment of the data it had acquired until the special master is chosen. Trump also requested that the judge compel the DOJ to produce a more thorough receipt for the material it had confiscated and to direct federal agents to give him back any items they had taken but were not included by the search warrant.
The warrant “was authorized by a federal court,” according to DOJ spokesman Anthony Coley, and the Justice Department will present its defense in court.
The FBI earlier this month took “several classified/[top secret]/[sensitive compartmented information] documents,” among other materials, according to federal investigators.
Trump and his supporters assert that he declassified the documents. The former president, however, claims that he had a “standing order” during his administration that “materials removed from the Oval Office and taken to the house were presumed to be declassified at the moment he removed.” Several former members of the Trump administration have disputed that assertion.