After days of waiting and a flurry of motions from the Department of Justice attempting to keep the affidavit used in the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago sealed indefinitely, a redacted affidavit was finally released on Friday afternoon just before the 12:00 p.m. ET deadline set by federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart. There was such a rush to view the affidavit, however, that the government's website where federal court records are posted completely crashed for nearly 30 minutes.
Once the site recovered, the affidavit was revealed to be a 38-page document that is heavily redacted — despite Judge Reinhart saying that the FBI's redactions are "narrowly tailored" — leaving even more questions still unanswered. In all, 20+ pages are entirely or significantly redacted.
What remains un-redacted is a narrative of what most already knew: the government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records that began after the National Archives and Records Administration referred the matter to the Justice Department on February 9, 2022.
The affidavit also mentions a CBS Miami news article about moving trucks being "Spotted at Mar-a-Lago," a statement by Trump about the Archives' requests for documents, and significant chunks of text and presumably images that the government's case is based on entirely blacked-out.
In a memorandum that was also unsealed Friday, the government's case for its redactions to the affidavit is *also* heavily redacted. The government cited witness information, a road map for its investigation into Trump, potential disclosure of a matter before a grand jury, law enforcement safety, and broad "privacy interests" as its basis for redacting the affidavit. "In short, the government has well-founded concerns that steps may be taken to frustrate or otherwise interfere with this investigation if facts in the affidavit were prematurely disclosed," the memo explains.
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The redacted affidavit can be viewed below:
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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