Justice Department Must Release Redacted Mar-A-Lago Search Affidavit, Judge Rules

Topline

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Justice to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it used to justify its search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, asking the federal government to unseal the document by Friday afternoon.

Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on February 11 in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Key Facts

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhardt ordered the affidavit to be unsealed hours after the DOJ submitted a version of the document with its proposed redactions to the court on Thursday afternoon.

The affidavit provides a detailed justification for the FBI’s search of Mar-A-Lago, which the DOJ wrote in a court filing would “serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation” into documents that were stored at Mar-A-Lago and reveal information about witnesses and other details of the probe.

Reinhardt had already agreed not to unseal the full unredacted affidavit, which the DOJ warned could compromise its investigation and dissuade witnesses from cooperating, but was waiting to decide whether to make a redacted version public until the DOJ submitted its proposed redactions.

It’s unclear what redactions the DOJ has made to the affidavit, but the government warned in a court filing any redactions it makes would likely “be so extensive as to render the document devoid of content that would meaningfully enhance the public’s understanding of these events.”

Reinhardt suggested in his order Thursday that the redactions may be more limited than that, writing the government’s 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.”

The Justice Department declined to comment when it filed its proposed redactions with the court, and has not yet responded to a request for comment on Reinhardt’s ruling.

Crucial Quote

In his previous order requiring the DOJ to submit its proposed reactions to the court, Reinhardt noted “the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence” that could justify the document’s release.

Chief Critic

“There remain compelling reasons, including to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security, that support keeping the affidavit sealed,” the DOJ argued in a court filing against the affidavit being unsealed.

Tangent

Trump’s attorneys have not taken a former legal position on whether the affidavit should be unsealed, though he has called for documents related to the raid to be made public on social media. The ex-president railed against the FBI’s ongoing investigation Thursday on his social network Truth Social and said he is “as innocent as a person can be.”

Key Background

The FBI searched Mar-A-Lago on August 8 in connection with an ongoing investigation into Trump bringing White House documents to his Florida resort after leaving office, despite them being the property of the National Archives. The tranche included reportedly hundreds of classified documents, and materials that carried the most top-secret security clearance. The unprecedented search of a former president’s property sparked widespread condemnation from Republicans and calls for greater transparency, leading the DOJ to release the search warrant it obtained for the raid. That revealed federal agents took 20 boxes of materials, including classified documents, in the search, and that Trump is being investigated for potentially violating three federal statutes, including the Espionage Act. The limited details offered in the search warrant then led to further calls for the affidavit to be released, and the current legal skirmish over the affidavit comes after media outlets and the conservative group Judicial Watch filed court motions asking for it to be unsealed.