The Justice Department said in court documents Monday that it opposes the release of the FBI affidavit used to justify a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s primary residence at Mar-a-Lago .
In Monday’s filing, prosecutors said the affidavit contained sensitive information about the testimony of witnesses in the investigation, adding later that they feared releasing the requested documents would “heat” the future testimony of others. potential witnesses.
Although the Justice Department did not object to the release of the search warrant last week, the department argued in a court filing Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that the affidavit should remain sealed “to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation involving national security.”
A judge will make the final decision on whether the affidavit should be unsealed.
The search warrant was released Friday and revealed that federal law enforcement officials are investigating the former president for violations of laws governing the removal or destruction of records, obstruction of an investigation and a provision of Espionage Law related to collection, transmission. or lose defense information.
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 22: Aerial view of Mar-a-Lago, billionaire Donald Trump’s oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida. John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
The documents released Friday included a property receipt from the Aug. 8 search that indicated the FBI had seized 11 sets of classified documents, including four sets that were marked “top secret.” The FBI also seized photos and information about the French president, among other things.
Several media outlets, including CBS News, filed requests in court last week to gain access to all documents, including the underlying affidavits, related to the search warrant. The affidavit is likely to contain key details about the government’s investigation into Trump.
But while the Justice Department has “carefully considered whether the affidavit may be released subject to redactions,” it said in Monday’s court filing that “redactions necessary to mitigate harm to the integrity of the investigation would be so extensive as to leave the remainder unsealed. text devoid of meaningful content, and the release of this redacted version would serve no public interest.”
“However, in the event the Court orders partial sealing of the affidavit, the government respectfully requests an opportunity to provide the Court with the proposed redactions,” the Justice Department continued.
The Justice Department said it would be permissible to unseal other documents related to the search warrant, the government’s motion to seal the search warrant and cover sheets associated with the search warrant.
In January, National Archives officials retrieved 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago, some of which contained classified information. In July, a Trump lawyer certified to investigators that all classified material had been turned over to the National Archives.
Trump claimed last week that he had declassified all the material seized at Mar-a-Lago while he was still in office. Although a sitting president has broad declassification ability, Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he has seen no evidence that Trump declassified the material while in office. In addition, Schiff said the authority to declassify material does not extend to a former president, calling it “absurd” for Trump to claim “18 months after the fact” that he had retroactively declassified documents he took to Mar -to-. lake
Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told CBS News’ Robert Costa that Trump’s handling of classified documents “troubled” him.
According to Bolton, intelligence whistleblowers would bring images or graphics for the president to see and deliver to him.
“Often, the president would say, ‘Well, can I keep this?’ And in my experience, intelligence informants more often than not said, ‘Well, sir, we’d rather have it back,”’ Bolton said. “But sometimes they forgot.”
Earlier this year, the National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of the records. The National Archives also said at the time that some of the documents Trump turned over to them had been ripped out and re-taped.
Trump’s allies on the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to top Biden administration officials on Monday demanding they turn over documents and communications about the FBI’s search of Trump’s residence to Congress.