Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Judge Appears Willing to Unveil Some of Mar-a-Lago Affidavit
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
August 19, 2022

Share

 

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to put forward proposed redactions as he committed to making public at least part of the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said that under the law, it is the government’s burden to show why a redacted version should not be released and prosecutors’ arguments Thursday failed to persuade him. He gave them a week to submit a copy of the affidavit proposing the information it wants to keep secret after the FBI seized classified and top secret information during a search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.

The hearing was convened after several news organizations, including The Associated Press, sought to unseal additional records tied to last week’s search, including the affidavit. It is likely to contain key details about the Justice Department’s investigation examining whether Trump retained and mishandled classified and sensitive government records.

The Justice Department has adamantly opposed making any portion of the affidavit public, arguing that doing so would compromise its ongoing investigation, would expose the identities of witnesses and could prevent others from coming forward and cooperating with the government.

The attorneys for the news organizations, however, argued that the unprecedented nature of the Justice Department’s investigation warrants public disclosure.

“You can’t trust what you can’t see,” said Chuck Tobin, a lawyer representing the AP and several other news outlets.

In addition to ordering the redactions, the judge agreed to make public other documents, including the warrant’s cover sheet, the Justice Department’s motion to seal the documents and the judge’s order requiring them to be sealed.

Those documents showed the FBI was specifically investigating the “willful retention of national defense information,” the concealment or removal of government records and obstruction of a federal investigation.

Jay Bratt, a top Justice Department national security prosecutor, had argued that the affidavit should remain hidden from the public. Unsealing it, he said, would provide a “road map” of the investigation — which is in its “early stages” — and expose the next steps to be taken by federal agents and prosecutors.

He argued it was in the public interest for the investigation, including interviews of witnesses, to go forward unhindered.

As the hearing kicked off, a small caravan of vehicles with Trump flags drove past the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida. An attorney for Trump, Christina Bobb, was in the courthouse Thursday but said she was only there to observe the court proceeding.

Bratt argued in court that even a redacted version of the document could reveal investigative steps or create the ability for sleuths or those being eyed in the investigation to identify witnesses in the case. He also contended that the Justice Department had already gone to rare lengths to bring transparency, including making a request for the court to unseal the warrant and property receipt, which were made public last week.

“There is heightened interest,” he conceded. “This is likely an unprecedented situation.”

Trump, in a Truth Social post last week, called for the release of the unredacted affidavit in the interest of transparency.

Reinhart gave the government until next Thursday to submit its version with the proposed redactions along with written arguments for each, going line by line. He said he would then review the proposal and make his own proposed redactions and then may meet with government lawyers to give them a final argument for why specific information should be withheld.

Justice Department attorneys have argued in court filings that the investigation into Trump’s handling of “highly classified material” is ongoing and that the document contains sensitive information about witnesses.

A recent filing by Bratt and Juan Antonio Gonzalez, the U.S. attorney in Miami, says making the affidavit public would “cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation.”

“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,” they wrote.

FBI agents searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8, removing 11 sets of classified documents, with some not only marked top secret but also “sensitive compartmented information,” according to a receipt of what was taken that was released Friday. That is a special category meant to protect the nation’s most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause “exceptionally grave” damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

DON'T MISS

Former Porterville Librarian Accused of Stealing Thousands From Elderly Friend

DON'T MISS

As Fresno Files First Case, Maxwell Vows to Protect Wage Theft Unit

DON'T MISS

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

DON'T MISS

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

DON'T MISS

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

DON'T MISS

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

DON'T MISS

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s New Economic Development Leader Has Boomtown Expertise

DON'T MISS

KMJ’s Ray Appleton Is Off the Air as He Deals With ‘Rare Condition’

UP NEXT

Tax the Rich? Slash Spending? Republicans Wrestle With Economic Priorities in the Trump Era

UP NEXT

Trump’s Trip to Saudi Arabia Raises the Prospect of US Nuclear Cooperation With the Kingdom

UP NEXT

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

UP NEXT

US to Accept White South African Refugees While Other Programs Remain Paused

UP NEXT

The Latest: Trump Floats Cutting China Tariffs to 80% Ahead of Weekend Meeting

UP NEXT

FEMA’s Acting Administrator Is Replaced a Day After Congressional Testimony

UP NEXT

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Allow Him to End Humanitarian Parole for 500,000 People From 4 Countries

UP NEXT

House Follows Trump’s Lead With a Vote to Change the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’

UP NEXT

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

UP NEXT

The Steelers Move on From George Pickens by Trading Mercurial Receiver to Cowboys

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

4 hours ago

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

4 hours ago

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

4 hours ago

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

4 hours ago

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

5 hours ago

Fresno’s New Economic Development Leader Has Boomtown Expertise

5 hours ago

KMJ’s Ray Appleton Is Off the Air as He Deals With ‘Rare Condition’

5 hours ago

Bakersfield Man Pleads Guilty to Aiming Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter

6 hours ago

Erika Sandoval Faces Life Sentence for Murder of Former Exeter Police Officer

6 hours ago

US Car Prices Higher in April After Tariffs Hit

6 hours ago

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against a 31-year-old Fresno man, accusing him of attempted murder and ...

3 hours ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
3 hours ago

Fresno Man Facing Multiple Charges After Violent Freeway Pursuit and Shooting

A former Porterville librarian, Vikki Ann Cervantes, 50, faces felony charges for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly friend over the course of a year while managing her finances. (Shutterstock)
3 hours ago

Former Porterville Librarian Accused of Stealing Thousands From Elderly Friend

4 hours ago

As Fresno Files First Case, Maxwell Vows to Protect Wage Theft Unit

Fowler police and sheriff’s deputies arrested two residents Monday, May 12, 2025, after finding illegal firearms, drugs, and stolen property during a search of their home. (Fowler PD)
4 hours ago

Fowler Felon Jailed After Officers Find Assault Rifle, Drugs in Home Search

4 hours ago

Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, far left, looks on from the defense table with his attorneys, as a prospective juror, far right, answers questions posed by Judge Arun Subramanian, center, at Manhattan federal court, Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
4 hours ago

Judge Rejects Claim That Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Was Treated Differently Because of His Race

Singer Tory Lanez returns to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center for his trial, Dec. 13, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP File)
4 hours ago

Rapper Tory Lanez Attacked at a California Prison as He Serves Time for Megan Thee Stallion Shooting

A fire has shut down all southbound lanes of I-5 at Grapevine Road on Monday, May 12, 2025, prompting major traffic delays as crews work to extinguish the flames. (CHP)
5 hours ago

Grapevine Fire Forces Full Closure of Southbound I-5

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend