Following a hearing on Thursday, federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart will be unsealing several documents associated with the FBI raid at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence last week.
According to War Room reporter Jayne Zirkle, Reinhart will be unsealing the Department of Justice’s motion to seal the warrant documents, an order granting the sealing request, and a criminal cover sheet from the warrant application.
According to Fox News reporter Eben Brown, the entire affidavit sought in the case will not be sealed, with Reinhart giving federal authorities one week to submit proposed redactions.
"On my initial careful review ... there are portions of it that can be unsealed," Reinhart said, according to NBC, adding that he would "give the government a full and fair opportunity” to make redactions to the document.
Reinhart said he would then review the document and either order the release if he agrees with the redactions, or hold a closed hearing with the government if he disagrees.
According to NBC, Reinhart added that if the two can't agree, "obviously I'd win" that argument, but he would allow the government time to appeal his ruling.
The partial unsealing of the affidavit comes after media outlets like Judicial Watch, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and others filed a motion, saying that the document would help determine the reasoning behind the August 8 raid.
During the hearing, federal prosecutors argued that that the affidavit should remain sealed, claiming that "provide a roadmap to the investigation" and allow "amateur sleuths on the internet" to identify key witnesses if made public, according to the New York Post.
Justice Department counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt told Reinhart that while there was interest in the justification behind the raid, the political climate in the country is too tumultuous for the affidavit to be revealed.
"This is a volatile situation with respect to this search across the political spectrum — but on one side in particular," Bratt told the judge. "The government is very concerned about the safety of the witnesses in these cases and the impact of all the attention on these witnesses on other witnesses."
Trump himself has called for the unsealing of the affidavit, writing, "There is no way to justify the unannounced RAID of Mar-a-Lago, the home of the 45th President of the United States (who got more votes, by far, than any sitting President in the history of our Country!), by a very large number of gun-toting FBI Agents, and the Department of 'Justice.' But, in the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN."
On August 8, FBI agents raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, taking away boxes of documents, some of which they consider to be confidential. The raid was reportedly conducted on the belief that Trump had withheld documents covered under the Presidential Records Act.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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