Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release a redacted version of the underlying affidavit that was relied upon to issue the warrant for the raid of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Reinhart directed the DOJ on August 18 to submit a copy of the affidavit with proposed redactions and the justification for said omissions on August 25, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
On Thursday, Judge Reinhart reviewed the submitted version and decided that “the Government has met its burden of showing a compelling reason/good cause to seal portions of the Affidavit because disclosure 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 protected by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure.”
Furthermore, he instructed the government to release the affidavit with the proposed redactions “on or before noon Eastern time on Friday, August 26, 2022.”
The warrant and property list were already released by Judge Reinhart, as reported by The Dallas Express.
This is the newest development in the ongoing legal struggle following the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid, which took several boxes of allegedly classified documents held by President Trump.
The episode has raised questions regarding the president’s declassification powers and the reach of the Presidential Records Act which Trump potentially violated.
The Dallas Express will cover the affidavit’s contents following its release on Friday.
