Parts of Mar-a-Lago Search Affidavit Can Be Unsealed, Judge Says
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The Florida magistrate judge who approved the warrant allowing the FBI to search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence said in a Thursday hearing that the entirety of the underlying affidavit can’t yet be released without redactions, but suggested that certain portions of the document will eventually be unsealed.
Despite objections from the Department of Justice, there are portions of the affidavit that could presumptively be unsealed, Judge Bruce Reinhart, said, according to the Palm Beach Post.
The federal government will file redactions August 25, he added, saying it will be a “considerate, careful process.”
The ruling comes after several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, filed a motion Wednesday requesting the affidavit to be unsealed.
The “public has a ‘clear and powerful’ interest in understanding the unprecedented investigation in former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified records,” the media outlets wrote in their motion.
Reinhart said whether the redacted affidavit will be of interest to the media is not up to him, according to the Palm Beach Post.
The Department of Justice had said Monday that it would not be unsealing the affidavit, arguing the release would interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
“If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps,” the DOJ’s court filing said.
A federal judge unsealed the search warrant Friday which showed a list of the items the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago.
The list included roughly 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note, the executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone, as well as information about French president Emmanuel Macron.
