Addressing the Mar-a-Lago affidavit challenge

The Justice Department’s decision to execute a search warrant at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence has ignited a two-front war, legal and political.

Legally, a federal magistrate authorized a search based on an FBI affidavit indicating probable cause due to a likelihood that crimes had been committed and that pertinent evidence was at Mar-a-Lago. In the normal course, little more would be said publicly by anyone involved. Rather, justice would proceed to its conclusion: Prosecute someone or close the file in silence. On the legal front, the Justice Department’s position is comparable to many thousands of routine search warrants executed annually.