More on the process involving the search of Mar-a-Lago.
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A Florida federal magistrate judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to propose redactions in preparation for the potential release of the justification for searching former President Donald Trump's private club, Mar-a-Lago, for classified documents earlier this month.
“As I ruled from the bench at the conclusion of the hearing, I find that on the present record the government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed,” Reinhart wrote in a brief order posted Thursday.
Several media outlets, including ABC, The Associated Press, CNN, Gannett and The New York Times, argued for the judge to order that the affidavit that justified the search be unsealed. That affidavit contains the sworn statements from investigators that Reinhart signed off on earlier this month to kick off the search.
The companies argued that in such a high-profile case, the public should have the ability to learn the justification for the search.
“The affidavit of probable cause should be released to the public, with only those redactions that are necessary to protect a compelling interest articulated by the government,” the media companies wrote.
As part of Thursday’s order, Reinhart also unsealed several other documents from the case, including the government’s initial motion to seal the warrant application. The government had argued in favor of keeping the warrant sealed “because the integrity of the ongoing investigation might be compromised, and evidence might be destroyed.”
