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 2 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 supportingĀ 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 weekā€™s search, including the affidavit. It is likely to contain key details about the Justice Departmentā€™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.

ā€œYou can’t trust what you can’t see,ā€ 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 ā€œwillful retention of national defense information,ā€ 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 ā€œroad mapā€ of the investigation ā€” which is in its ā€œearly stagesā€ ā€” 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.

ā€œThere is heightened interest,” he conceded. “This is likely an unprecedented situation.ā€

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 ā€œhighly classified materialā€ 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 ā€œcause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation.ā€

ā€œIf disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the governmentā€™s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps,ā€ 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 ā€œsensitive compartmented information,” according toĀ a receipt of what was taken that was released Friday.Ā That is a special category meant to protect the nationā€™s most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause ā€œexceptionally graveā€ damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

DON'T MISS

The Aga Khan, Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims and a Philanthropist, Dies at 88

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants US to Take Ownership of Gaza and Redevelop It After Palestinians Are Resettled

DON'T MISS

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

DON'T MISS

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

DON'T MISS

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

DON'T MISS

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

DON'T MISS

Mexico Deploys 10,000 National Guard Members to US Border: What to Know

DON'T MISS

Trump Says the ‘Gaza Thing Has Never Worked’

UP NEXT

Tariff Threats Take Aim at Fentanyl Trafficking: Here’s How the Drug Reaches the US

UP NEXT

US Military Conducts Airstrikes Against Islamic State Operatives in Somalia

UP NEXT

Officials: Seven Dead, 19 Injured in Air Ambulance Crash in Philadelphia

UP NEXT

Rubio Is Off to Central America With the Panama Canal and Immigration Top of Mind

UP NEXT

Sick and Wounded Children Begin Crossing From Gaza to Egypt in First Opening in Months

UP NEXT

Hamas Frees 3 Hostages, Israel Releases Palestinians as Part of Ceasefire Deal

UP NEXT

Taylor Swift Will Present at the Grammys. Here’s More to Know About Sunday’s Show

UP NEXT

Philadelphia Plane Crash Causes Fiery Scene With Multiple Homes Ablaze

UP NEXT

List of Government Web Pages Gone Dark to Comply With Trump Orders

UP NEXT

Collision Between Helicopter and Jetliner Kills 67 in Nation’s Worst Air Disaster in a Generation

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

11 hours ago

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

12 hours ago

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

12 hours ago

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

12 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

13 hours ago

Mexico Deploys 10,000 National Guard Members to US Border: What to Know

13 hours ago

Trump Says the ‘Gaza Thing Has Never Worked’

14 hours ago

First Military Flight Departs to Send Migrants to Guantanamo Bay

14 hours ago

A Tale of Two Local Districts: Implementing the CA Classroom Cell Phone Ban

15 hours ago

Hawaii Volcano Produces Tall Lava Fountaining in Latest Episode of Kilauea Eruption

15 hours ago

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

Shortly after renaming eight miles of streets in south Fresno to honor labor organizer Cesar Chavez, a group of business owners and resident...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Judge Says Fresno Can Change Street Names: Cesar Chavez Blvd Lawsuit Tossed

The Aga Khan, spiritual head of Ismaili Muslims, listens to a speech during the inauguration of the restored 16th century Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, Sept. 18, 2013. (AP File)
11 hours ago

The Aga Khan, Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims and a Philanthropist, Dies at 88

11 hours ago

Trump Wants US to Take Ownership of Gaza and Redevelop It After Palestinians Are Resettled

A hit-and-run response in Fresno led to a high-speed chase, crash, and standoff, ending in two arrests after police intervention. (CHP)
11 hours ago

Fresno High-Speed Chase Ends in Arrests After Crash, Standoff

12 hours ago

NFL Commish Calls Chiefs Conspiracy Theory ‘Ridiculous’ but Terrell Owens Floats One

The 50501 Movement, a grassroots protest effort organizing demonstrations in all 50 states on February 5 to oppose fascism, emphasizes peaceful action and local participation, with planned protests at key sites, including Californiaā€™s state Capitol. (GV Wire Composite)
12 hours ago

Where Will Californians Rally During Nationwide Protest Against Trump Administration?

12 hours ago

Estee Lauder to Cut up to 7,000 Jobs as Sales Slide

Three people were arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Visalia after police found a ghost gun, high-capacity magazines, and drugs during a search warrant. (Visalia PD)
13 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Three, Seize Ghost Gun and Drugs

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

Search

Send this to a friend