On Friday, the Justice Department issued a partially redacted search warrant affidavit detailing the reasons FBI investigators visited the Florida property of former President Donald Trump this month.
As part of an ongoing criminal investigation into whether or not Trump illegally removed White House records before he left office in 2021, a search was done. In order to safeguard witnesses and the legitimacy of the inquiry, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart mandated the release of the affidavit while allowing for redactions.
Probable cause is stated for both the existence of classified materials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and for the existence of “evidence of obstruction” there.
The statement also said there was reasonable suspicion that “evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other goods illegally possessed” would be located at Trump’s residence.
After leaving office, presidents are obligated to provide the National Archives with a large quantity of paperwork. Since last year, the National Archives and Records Administration has been pestering Trump to return documents that belong in the archives.
On Friday, an affidavit was made public claiming that federal officials suspected Trump was hiding secret materials after reviewing several boxes of Trump’s donated records to the archives. Several of the papers contained the “HSC” marks that denote top secret information.
According to the affidavit, the National Archives sent the case to the FBI in February. The FBI wanted to know who took the documents from the White House without permission, how they got there, and if Mar-a-Lago was a legitimate storage facility.
There are many potential violations of federal law listed in the affidavit, including a law that makes it illegal to steal materials relevant to national defense and not return them to the United States government. Any person who violates 18 U.S.C. 793 (e) is subject to a 10-year prison sentence and penalties.
The affidavit also refers to 18 U.S.C. 1519, which provides that anybody who obstructs justice may be subject to a fine and/or imprisonment of up to 20 years.
According to the affidavit, the government made numerous attempts to obtain the files months before the search was conducted.
On June 8th, the government addressed a letter to Trump’s legal team reiterating that “Mar-a-Lago does not have a safe place permitted for the preservation of sensitive material.” All White House items and the secure location where they are being housed were requested in the letter.
The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others, had requested that Reinhart unseal the search papers in the interest of openness and transparency.
The Justice Department persuaded Reinhart, he said on Thursday, that certain parts of the affidavit should remain sealed because their release would reveal “(1) the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties, (2) the investigation’s strategy direction, scope, sources, and methods, and (3) grand jury information.”
According to Reinhart’s analysis, the government proved its case that the withheld information is little and necessary to safeguard the operation.
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