They reveal a censored document on the raid on Donald Trump’s house: what does it say?

The U.S. Department of Justice released a partially redacted document on Friday explaining the rationale behind an FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s home weeks ago, when agents removed top-secret and other government documents.

The document, even in its partially drafted form, will likely reveal at least some of them details of the criminal investigation which has meant new legal dangers for Trump, just as he is laying the foundations for a new presidential campaign.

Although predictably Department of Justice officials sensitive details on witnesses will have been removed and the scope and direction of the investigation, the affidavit may contain the most complete description to date of the events leading up to the Mar-a-Lago raid on August 8.

The document, an affidavit the FBI filed with a judge to obtain a search warrant on Trump’s property.

surprising decision

These statements, also called affidavits, usually contain vital information about an investigation and officers explain to the judge why they want to search a particular piece of property and why they think they are likely to find evidence of a possible crime there, but usually the statements jurors remain sealed during ongoing investigations.

This makes the judge’s decision to reveal parts of them even more surprising.

In recognition of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, US magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the Department Thursday to release a concise version of the affidavit by Friday.

However, even a drafted affidavit (i.e. with portions locked) it may contain some news about the investigation and probably helps explain why federal agents who have been trying for months to retrieve sensitive government documents in Mar-a-Lago have finally felt compelled to apply for a search warrant.

Judge Reinhart’s order came just hours after federal authorities sealed off the parts of the text they want to keep secret as their investigation progresses.

confidential documents

Documents that have already been made public as part of the investigation show that the FBI recovered 11 sets of confidential documents, including information marked as top secret, in Mar-a-Lago.

The Justice Department contested media arguments that any part of the affidavit should be made public, saying the release of the document could reveal private information about witnesses and investigative tactics.

But acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, Reinhart said he disagreed with sealing the entire document and asked federal authorities to privately present him which parts they wanted to black out.

However, he conceded that the obscured parts could be so extensive that they leave the public version of the document without any significant information.

Source: AP