Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit to be released by noon Friday.
The big picture: The affidavit described evidence of the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents he took with him when he left office.
Details: Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the affidavit released with redactions by noon ET Friday.
- He wrote that “the government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are tailored to serve the government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to unsealing the entire statement oath”.
- According to Reuters, Reinhart will review the department’s redactions and decide whether or not to release the affidavit.
- He said the redactions could be so heavy that they could “make the document empty of content”.
Flashback: Reinhart filed a written order Monday suggesting she would ask that parts of the affidavit be left sealed, Axios’ Erin Doherty reported.
- “Given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former president’s residence,” the US government did not make a strong enough case to seal the affidavit, Reinhart wrote.
- “Therefore, I reject the government’s argument that the present record warrants keeping the entire affidavit under seal,” he wrote.
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