U.S. government officials have not presented sufficient evidence to keep a key document related to the search warrant executed at former President Donald Trump’s home shielded from the public, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 22
U.S. officials have claimed that the affidavit for the warrant, which convinced U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to approve the warrant, needs extensive redactions to protect FBI agents and witnesses, as well as the ongoing investigation into Trump.
The redactions would leave “very little—nothing of substance,” Jay Bratt, chief of the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, told Reinhart during a recent hearing.
In the new ruling, Reinhart said that the arguments aren’t sufficient—at least not yet.
“I cannot say at this point that partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion after hearing further from the Government,” he said.
Still, “given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence, the Government has not yet shown that these administrative concerns are sufficient to justify sealing,” he added. “I therefore reject the Government’s argument that the present record justifies keeping the entire Affidavit under seal.”
Reinhart ordered the government to file additional evidence supporting keeping the entire document under seal, and proposed redactions to the affidavit, which is a document authored by an FBI agent that outlines why the government believes it needs a warrant. The warrant was served on Aug. 8 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Reinhart will review the proposed redactions and either reject them, giving the government a chance to appeal to a higher court, or agree with them and release the redacted document.
