A judge ordered the federal government to release the affidavit amid calls for greater transparency about why Mar-A-Lago was searched.
The Justice Department unsealed Friday a redacted version of the affidavit it used to justify its request to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, outlining the scope of the DOJ’s investigation and that the agency believed there was probable cause showing Trump had committed a crime by storing government documents—including classified materials—at his Florida resort.
“Based on the foregoing facts and circumstances, I submit that probable cause exists to believe that evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation [of federal statutes] will be found at the PREMISES,” the affidavit, submitted by an FBI investigator to the court, states.
What the rest of the redacted document says. In his ruling that ordered its release, Reinhardt noted that the government had redacted information in the affidavit that revealed the identities of any witnesses or other parties involved; any grand jury information and “the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods.
