Piggybacking on what Leah wrote earlier today, Judge Bruce Reinhart said he is not inclined to accept the federal government’s argument to keep the affidavit that provided the Justice Department with probable cause to raid Mar-a-Lago sealed. Still, he also said he would probably not release much to the public. Reinhart is the judge who signed off on the search warrant and has some shady ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a good pal of the Democratic Party. And yes, without even having to say anything, the judge is viciously anti-Trump. Leah added that some of the judge’s reasoning for keeping most of the affidavit under seal is to protect investigative methods and to ensure the safety of former President Donald Trump. Oh, and once the careful process of redaction has been completed, the judge all but admitted it would be pages of blacked-out text so that it wouldn't be worth it (via NBC News):
The federal magistrate judge in Florida who approved the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound is lowering expectations about how much, if any, of the search warrant affidavit he'll ultimately release following a motion from media organizations seeking its disclosure.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, in a written order Monday, noted the "intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence," but said he still could ultimately conclude that it would be best not to release any of the affidavit because the redactions would render it meaningless.
[…]
Reinhart also said in Monday's order that he remains confident in his decision to authorize the search warrant, having found "probable cause that evidence of multiple federal crimes would be found" at Mar-a-Lago, including obstructing an investigation.
"Having carefully reviewed the Affidavit before signing the Warrant, I was — and am — satisfied that the facts sworn by the affiant are reliable," Reinhart wrote.
MORE: Reinhart identified another reason to keep at least portions of the affidavit sealed: Trump's own personal safety. https://t.co/MqOuPYRRhE pic.twitter.com/ZUxPm7Q8IU
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 22, 2022
This judgment is an expected conclusion to this part of the legal saga. There was no way the judge who signed off on the search warrant would also release the affidavit. The criticism that this raid was politically motivated to warn Donald Trump not to run again under the auspices of enforcing the Presidential Records Act, which isn’t a criminal statute, remains a salient topic with the public, especially Republican voters. The judge who gave the green light to this raid has unsavory ties. The Justice Department has interfered in our elections via Crossfire Hurricane and the overall Russian collusion hoax. They’re reportedly running interference on any story that paints Hunter Biden in an unfavorable light.
There are legitimate reasons not to believe anything from the Biden DOJ.