A judge unsealed more documents related to the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, even as the Department of Justice seeks to keep the affidavit justifying the search hidden.
The search warrant application cover sheet, originally filed Aug. 5 and ordered unsealed on Thursday by the magistrate judge handling the case, provided more details on what the Justice Department was looking for.
The records show Trump was being investigated under 18 U.S.C. 793 (part of the Espionage Act) and said it was related to “willful retention of national defense information.”
The newly unsealed cover sheet pointed to 18 U.S.C. 2071, specifically the “concealment or removal of government records,” as well as 18 U.S.C. 1519, specifically related to “obstruction of federal investigation.”
The DOJ said in the unsealed warrant application that “the basis for the search” under the federal rules of criminal procedure was “evidence of a crime” and “contraband, fruits of a crime, or other items illegally possessed.”
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The department’s original motion to seal the warrant and its underlying documents, also filed Aug. 5, was released as well.
“The United States submits that there is good cause because the integrity of the ongoing investigation might be compromised, and evidence might be destroyed,” Juan Gonzalez, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, told the court earlier this month. “The United States further requests that … all documents associated with this investigation not be filed on the Court’s electronic docket because filing these materials on the electronic docket poses a risk to safety.”
The magistrate judge’s order approving the sealing, dated Aug. 5, was also made public.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed the Aug. 5 warrant for the raid three days later, also indicated during a Thursday court hearing that he may partially unseal the affidavit itself, ordering the DOJ to file a redacted version of the raid affidavit by next week.
Reinhart said in court that he believes there are portions that can be unsealed and ordered the government to file proposed redactions by noon next Thursday.
The DOJ announced this week its opposition to the release of the underlying justification for its search, just days after it agreed to unseal the FBI warrant for the search of Trump’s Florida resort.
Jay Bratt, chief of the DOJ’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, said in court Thursday that the investigation remains “in its early stages” when arguing against unsealing the affidavit.
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The items seized by the FBI last week allegedly included “various classified/[top secret]/[sensitive compartmented information] documents,” four “miscellaneous top secret documents,” three “miscellaneous secret documents,” two “miscellaneous confidential documents,” and one “confidential document.”
Trump and his allies have claimed he declassified the records, with the former president contending he had a “standing order” throughout his presidency that “documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them.” A number of former Trump administration officials have cast doubt on that notion.
