Judge orders unsealing of redacted affidavit in Donald Trump search
- The decision means the public could soon get some additional details on what led FBI agents look for classified files at the ex-US president’s Mar-a-Lago home
- However, large parts of the document are expected to be blacked-out, given the sensitivity of the investigation and unprecedented nature of the search
A judge ordered the US Justice Department on Thursday to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when federal agents searched the Florida estate of former president Donald Trump to look for classified documents.
The directive from US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward. The judge set a deadline of noon Friday for a redacted, or blacked-out, version of the document.
The order means the public could soon get at least some additional details about what led FBI officials to search Mar-a-Lago on August 8 as part of an investigation into classified documents being retained at the Palm Beach property.
Documents already made public as part of the investigation show that the FBI retrieved from the property 11 sets of classified documents, including information marked at the top secret level.
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FBI raids former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
Search warrant affidavits typically contain vital information about an investigation, with agents spelling out why they want to search a particular property and why they believe they are likely to find evidence of a potential crime there.
In this case, though, the redactions proposed by the Justice Department are likely to be extensive given the sensitivity of the investigation and unprecedented nature of the search, lessening the chance that the public will receive a detailed glimpse of the basis for the search or the direction of the probe.
