US judge orders Justice Depatrment to release redacted Mar-a-Lago affidavit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A federal judge on Thursday gave the Justice Department one day to make public a redacted version of the warrant affidavit the FBI used to search former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate for classified documents.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the agency to release the document by Friday at noon Eastern time (1600GMT) after it met a Thursday deadline to file the document with the court.

Reinhart said that after reviewing the edited affidavit he determined "that the Government has met its burden of showing a compelling reason/good cause to seal portions of the Affidavit" for several reasons, including the possible disclosures of witness identities and uncharged parties, as well as "the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods."

Reinhart also cited grand jury information protected by federal law.

"Based on my independent review of the Affidavit, I further find that the Government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the Government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire Affidavit," he said in a two-page order.

The affidavit lays out the justifications the FBI laid out before Reinhart granted the warrant that led to the Aug. 8 search.

The search of Trump's Florida estate turned up 11 sets of classified materials the president kept from his time in office, in possible violation of federal law.

The search warrant that was unsealed Aug. 12 indicates the FBI is investigating Trump for violations of three federal laws, including the gathering, losing, or transmitting of defense information; the concealment, removal, or mutilation generally of official records; and destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The warrant authorized agents to seize any related property, including documents, communications, and "any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021."

The property receipt said in addition to the classified materials that were taken, FBI agents retrieved documents that included Trump's order granting clemency to political ally Roger Stone, a "leatherbound box of documents," two binders of photos and a potential presidential record.