A federal judge has given the U.S. Department of Justice an affidavit used to justify the recent search of former President Donald Trump's Florida residence, stating that the remaining documents I've given you one week to edit it before it's published.
The documents were sought by a group of news outlets following an unprecedented raid conducted as part of a federal investigation into the handling of classified documents Trump brought into Mar-a-Lago. It is
A court-issued warrant used to search Trump's residence was unsealed last week, prompting Trump to investigate several potential crimes, including possible obstruction of justice and violating the Espionage Act. was shown to have received The law makes it a crime to obtain and release national defense intelligence that could be used to harm the United States and to benefit its adversaries.
Prosecutors, however, oppose the opening of more sensitive affidavits, legal documents submitted to judges to obtain search warrants.
Jay Bratt, head of the Department of Justice's counterintelligence and export control division, argued that the document contained so much classified information that redaction would render it virtually worthless.
"There will be nothing substantive," Bratt said Thursday at a hearing with U.S. Justice Bruce Reinhart.
Agent White A search of Trump's residence, in which investigators removed 11 sets of classified documents from the House and did not turn them over to the National Archives, sparked an angry backlash from the former president and his supporters.
16} President Trump claims he had a "standing order" to declassify all documents taken from the Oval Office, an idea that has been questioned by many national security experts.An FBI investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents is in the early stages, Bratt said in court on Thursday.
The affidavits being sought will almost certainly reveal far more information about the investigation than the search warrant, said a former Department of Justice official and current investigative and risk officer. said Jordan Strauss, managing director of Kroll, a consultancy firm.
"For example, if you have a confidential informant or other source, it could come to light," Strauss said in an interview. "And although there is no indication that this is the case, if there has been a wiretap, if anonymous information has been provided to the FBI or another law enforcement agency, or if any other source or method by which the information is being collected, In some cases, such as when there was a cooperating individual or cooperating defendant whose indictment was sealed, all of it could be published without significant redaction.”
An affidavit, usually filed by an FBI agent, outlines the type of crime under investigation, why the prosecutor believes evidence of the crime can be found at the location, and the government's sources of information.
Generally, affidavits are released once the accused is charged with a crime, but not during an investigation.
In deciding whether to release the affidavits, the government is baffled, said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor who is now a law professor at Columbia University in New York.
"On the other hand, if you're really committed to protecting all classified sources and keeping the investigation as quiet as possible, you're throwing out this strange series of sentences. This will be a Rorschach test for the American public," Richman said in an interview. "People looking for reasons to believe this is a witch hunt will find some. Those who think the government has reasons to pursue this investigation will be satisfied."
Dissemination of unsolicited documents may serve no one's purpose and sets a very bad precedent for the media thinking they can always promote the release of at least some of the high-profile affidavits. case,” said Richman.
However, the press said the release of the affidavit was in the public interest, given the historical significance of the former president's raid.
"The FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago is already one of the most important law enforcement events in the nation's history," said the lawyer representing the media group. said Charles Tobin at the hearing.
