The battle between Donald Trump and the US Department of Justice over the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is entering the next round. The authority now had to publish a document that served as the basis for the search warrant.
A much-anticipated document has been partially released following a search of former US President Donald Trump’s home. The US Department of Justice released the document, with some redactions, on Friday, on the order of a judge, on the basis of which the search warrant for Trump’s private home Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was approved. Due to the high level of public interest, the online database of court documents was completely overwhelmed. About half of the 30+ pages have been blacked out to protect sensitive information.
The document also provides information about the FBI’s initial suspicions against the 76-year-old. Accordingly, 14 of 15 boxes of documents that Trump had already sent from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives contained confidential and sometimes top-secret documents. 184 documents were classified – 67 as “confidential”, 92 as “secret” and 25 as “top secret”. According to the FBI, classified documents were found with other papers. Therefore, there was reason to believe that there were other classified documents on the property.
In the affidavit, the FBI also said it was conducting criminal investigations into “improper removal and storage of classified information” and “unlawful misappropriation of government records.” In addition, there were handwritten notes on several documents, apparently by Trump himself.
Sensitive information is redacted
A judge in the state of Florida had ordered the partial publication on Thursday. Federal judge Reinhart had ordered the publication, but admitted that there were “compelling reasons” for important parts to be blacked out. According to him, the publication serves the public interest as it concerns the unprecedented house search of a former US President.
The Justice Department created a redacted version to protect sensitive information. Several media had requested publication. The federal police FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on August 8th. The background is the Republican’s handling of documents from his term as President until January 2021.
The FBI confiscated several sets of documents classified as top secret in Mar-a-Lago. Because Trump kept the records at his private estate, he may have broken the law. This is now being investigated. Trump criticizes the actions of the authorities as politically motivated and defends himself with a lawsuit.
Donald Trump has reacted with outrage to the publication of details of the investigation against him. In the online service Truth Social, which he co-founded, Trump wrote on Friday about a “witch hunt!!!”. He accused the FBI and the Justice Department of a “total PR deception”. The procedural document, some of which was published, does not indicate that he worked closely with the FBI in returning documents. Nor does it provide any evidence that he withheld documents on nuclear weapons.
Presidency documents in focus
The investigation is about documents that Trump took from the White House to the Mar-a-Lago property after his term ended in January 2021. US Presidents are required to hand over all official documents, including e-mails and letters, to the National Archives upon leaving office.
Trump has repeatedly described the search of his villa as politically motivated. The right-wing populist accuses President Joe Biden’s Democrats of using the judiciary to prevent him from running for president again in 2024.
Note: This article has been updated.
Source: Stern
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