Former President Donald Trump.Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/getty
The affidavit used to procure a search warrant of former PresidentDonald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence has been unsealed with redactions, one day after a Florida judgeordered its release.
Within the affidavit, a special agent involved in establishing probable cause laid out four main objectives of the criminal investigation: to determine how the classified documents and records handed over to the National Archives earlier this year came to be stored at Mar-a-Lago in the first place; to determine whether the storage locations at Mar-a-Lago were authorized storage locations for classified information; to determine whether there are additional classified documents or records being stored in unauthorized locations; and to identify who may have been responsible for removing or storing classified information without proper authorization.
The affidavit says that previous documents handed over from Mar-a-Lago “appear to contain National Defense Information.” It also argued that agents had reason to believe they would find more National Defense Information if they obtained permission to search Mar-a-Lago themselves, and that they anticipated finding evidence of obstruction of justice.
Before moving to unseal the affidavit, Reinhart allowed the Department of Justice to propose redactions in order to protect witnesses from harassment or violence and maintain the integrity of the investigation. In his Thursday order, Reinhart suggested that the DOJ’s redaction requests were granted because they were “narrowly tailored to serve the government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation,“The New York Timesreports.
In the weeks since the FBI searched the residence of Trump, the public has slowly received more information about what investigators were seeking — and what they collected.
The FBI executed the search amid the National Archives' attempt to recover documents that were believed to be stored at Mar-a-Lago, which is where he returned after leaving the White House at the end of his presidency. Days later,the search warrant and property receipt from Aug. 8 were publicized, revealing that the FBI was looking to gather anything that might show Trump, 76, removed or destroyed records, obstructed justice orviolated the Espionage Act.
Among the materials retrieved were 11 sets ofclassified documents, including some marked “top secret” that are only meant to be viewed at secure government facilities.
Binders of photos, a handwritten note, unspecified information about French President Emmanuel Macron and an executive grant of clemency forformer Trump aide Roger Stonewere also listed on the receipt.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
In the weeks since the FBI’s search,far-right Republicans have circulated inflammatory rhetoricintending to discredit the justice system, leading to a slew ofviolent threats against federal agents.
Attorney General Merrick Garlandgave a rare speechon Aug. 11 defending the employees of the FBI and DOJ as “dedicated, patriotic servants.”
Garland noted that he personally gave the green light for investigators to seek a search warrant as a last resort in their probe into Trump’s handling of documents, adding that while Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, he is not above “due process of the law.”
source: people.com
