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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A judge Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to unseal a redacted version of the affidavit used in the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate for classified records.
U.S. Magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart gave the Justice Department until noon Friday to submit a redacted version of the document. On Thursday, hours before the ruling, the DOJ submitted a redacted version of the document to the judge.
Judge rejects Department of Justice proposals to keep Mar-a-Lago search documents private
The judge last week rejected proposals by the Justice Department to keep the entire document out of public eye, noting that a blacked-out version should be submitted. He admitted that the redactions may be so lengthy that the document may become meaningless to the public.
Several news media organization had argued in support of making the document public following the unprecedented search of the former president’s home.
The group also called on the government to make public the redacted version of the affidavit.
“At a minimum, any portions of the Brief that recite those facts about the investigation, without revealing additional ones not yet publicly available — in addition to any other portions that pose no threat to the investigation — should be unsealed,” the news organizations wrote, The Associated Press reported.
“If and when additional facts come to light and are confirmed to be accurate, or certain facts no longer pose a threat to the investigation for any other reason, there is no justification for maintaining them under seal either,” they submitted.
Why did FBI agents search Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate?
On August 8 FBI agents raided Trump’s home in search of classified documents which the former president is believed to have taken home after his White House exit. The Justice Department has been investigating the potential mishandling of classified information after the National Archives and Records Administration said it had received from Mar-a-Lago 15 boxes of White House records, including documents containing classified information, earlier this year. The National Archives said Trump should have turned over that material upon leaving office and then asked the Justice Department to investigate.
A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents recovered 11 sets of classified records from Trump’s residence.
The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, governing gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act and another statute that addresses concealment, mutilation or removal of records. The third statute addresses the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.