TThe US Attorney’s Office on Friday submitted a revised version of the document with reasons justifying a search conducted by FBI agents at the home of former President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in early August.
The so-called “affidavit” has been made public in part, with a significant portion concealed, after federal judge Bruce E. Reinhart, in the Florida court, authorized its disclosure on Thursday.
The Ministry of Justice version has been revised
The Department of Justice (DOJ) provided the judge with this reduced version of the so-called “affidavit,” after an August 18 hearing that indicated publication of the full document would pose a “national security risk.”
And the prosecution indicated, on Friday, that it is necessary not to reveal the identities of witnesses who participated in the investigation against former President Trump, because they may “be exposed to harm, retaliation, intimidation, harassment, or even threats to their physical safety.”
Document can reveal information
Therefore, the full document will reveal the sources of the investigation. Judge Reinhardt accepted the Justice Department’s arguments. The order against Trump cites three criminal laws of his administration, including a violation of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the unlawful obtaining or keeping of national security information, and one related to obstruction of a federal investigation.
Trump repeats his innocence
After the document was published, Trump reiterated that during his administration and at the time of the change of ownership in favor of Joe Biden, he had done nothing wrong and that this was a “political attack” against him.
“I did nothing wrong. We were attacked, we were raided. They opened the vaults, they brought in many, many FBI agents, everything is fine before the midterms,” he posted on his network, The Truth Social.
He explained that the released document was “heavily redacted” without mentioning “nuclear” weapons. He added that it was “a complete public relations stunt by the FBI and the Department of Justice.”
These political thugs had no right under the Presidential Records Act to raid Mar-a-Lago and steal everything in sight, including passports and privileged documents. We now live in a lawless country that happens to be a failed nation!
Donald Trump
In addition, Donald Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit for an independent commission to review files seized in the FBI raid. His request may prevent investigators from accessing the documents.
The former president did not file his case in the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which issued the original order, but in the more distant Fort Pierce, where the only Trump-appointed judge is located.
office 45
The document notes that former President Trump’s residential suite, his “45th office” and other locations in Mar-a-Lago were searched when none of these spaces were authorized to store classified information.
“Based on this investigation, I believe that the storage room, the former president’s presidential suite, the pine hall, ‘Office 45’ and other spaces within the facilities were not currently permitted to store classified information or the NDI, according to the affidavit.” On this investigation, I do not believe that any space has been cleared within the facilities to store classified information since the end of the former president’s presidential administration on January 20, 2021.”
The statement adds that federal investigators have addressed the issue of the president’s authority to declassify the documents, although much of that section has been redacted.
cash battle
It also mentions the claim of Cash Patel, a former national security aide to Trump who was appointed to the National Archives in June. Patel claimed that reports that the National Archives had found classified material at Mar-a-Lago were “misleading” because Trump had declassified the material.
Since the FBI research, Trump has referred to a January 19, 2021 memo in which he declassified documents related to the FBI’s investigation into Russia. However, there is no evidence that this material was what the FBI was looking for when it raided Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.
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