Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart unsealed the search warrant affidavit used by the FBI to carry out an unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump on Aug. 8.
While it contains heavy redactions, there are entire passages that can be read.
“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 govermnent records,” the document reads. “The investigation began as a result of a referral the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) sent to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on Febmary 9, 2022, hereinafter, ‘NARA Referral.’ The NARA Referral stated that on January 18, 2022, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA), NARA received from the office of former President DONALD J. TRUMP, hereinafter ‘FPOTUS,’ via representatives, fifteen (15) boxes of records, hereinafter, the ‘FIFTEEN BOXES.’ The FIFTEEN BOXES, which had been transpotted from the FPOTUS property at 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, hereinafter, the ‘PREMISES,’ a residence and club known as ‘Mar-a-Lago,’ further described in Attachment A, were reported by NARA to contain, among other things, highly classified documents intermingled with other records.”
“After an initial review of the NARA Referral, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a criminal investigation to, among other things, determine how the documents with classification markings and records were removed from the White House ( or any other authorized location(s) for the storage of classified materials) and came to be stored at the PREMISES: determine whether the storage location(s) at the PREMISES were authorized locations for the storage of classified information; detennine whether any additional classified documents or records may have been stored in an unauthorized location at the PREMISES or another unknown location, and whether they remain at any such location; and identify any person(s) who may have removed or retained classified infmmation without authorization and/or in an unauthorized space,” the affidavit continues.
The Trump raid affidavit is available in full below:
Trump Raid Affidavit (with Redactions) by Kyle Becker on Scribd
As earlier reported, the U.S. Attorney’s argument that the document remain sealed and redactions be retained was released.
“The United States hereby gives notice that it is filing the attached document, which is a redacted version of material previously filed in this case number under seal: the United States’ Sealed, Ex Parte Memorandum of Law Regarding Proposed Redactions (DE89),” the document states. “In the interest of transparency, as well as the principle that limitations on public access to judicial proceedings should be “narrowly tailored,” Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 607 (1982), the government will move at the appropriate time to unseal this notice and the redacted version of its Ex Parte Memorandum.”
A sample of the redactions in the document can be seen below:
The following is from page 6:
It continues onto page 7:
And onto page 8:
The Department of Justice, under U.S. Attorney Juan Atonio Gonzales, further argued that the text marked for redaction should remain under seal.
“For the reasons stated herein, the Court should maintain under seal the text the government has marked for redaction,” the attorney states. :The government defers to the Court to determine whether the redactions are ‘so extensive that’ release of the remainder of the affidavit would ‘result in a meaningless disclosure.’ Should the Court order disclosure of a redacted version of the affidavit, and if the Court agrees with the government’s proposed redactions, the government will submit a final version of the redacted affidavit for public release.”
The entire document can be read below:
Florida Court Document on FBI Search Warrant Affidavit by Kyle Becker on Scribd
New docket entries for the Florida Southern District Court earlier indicated that several entries are to be ‘restricted/sealed until further notice.’Florida judge Bruce Reinhart, who had originally signed off on the FBI’s search warrant, gave the Department of Justice until noon on Friday to submit its advised redactions on the search warrant affidavit used to justify the unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump.
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