The Justice Department said in a new court filing Monday that it opposes efforts by several media organizations, including ABC News, to unseal the supporting affidavit behind the now-public search warrant for Mar- Former President Donald Trump’s a-Lago.
“Compelling reasons remain, including to protect the integrity of an ongoing police investigation involving national security, that support keeping the affidavit sealed,” the filing states.
In a footnote, department officials write that they “carefully considered” whether to release the affidavit with redactions, but the redactions necessary to “mitigate damage to the integrity of the investigation would be so extensive that the text would not remaining sealed makes no sense. content, and releasing this redacted version would serve no public interest.”
However, should the magistrate judge order the partial unsealing of the affidavit, “the government respectfully requests the opportunity to provide the Court with the proposed redactions.”
Law enforcement officers patrol outside former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 9, 2022.
Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
The department also says it does not object to the unsealing of other materials submitted in connection with the search warrant, “the unsealing of which would not jeopardize the integrity of this national security investigation,” but with minor redactions to protect government personnel. This would consist of “cover sheets associated with the search warrant application, the government’s sealing motion, and the Court’s sealing order.
The government has sealed them and is asking the court to unseal them.
In addition to explaining their request to keep the underlying affidavit sealed, prosecutors note that it would “serve as a road map for the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course , in a way that is very likely to compromise future research steps.”
An aerial view shows former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 15, 2022.
Marco Bello/Reuters
They briefly detail some of the information in the affidavit that has been reviewed by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, noting that it, “contains, among other detailed and critically important investigative facts: highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government ; specific; investigative techniques; and information required by law to be kept under seal” under the grand jury rules.
“In addition, witness information is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that the disclosure of witnesses’ identities will affect their willingness to cooperate with the investigation,” state prosecutors, highlighting stories about an increase in threats. to the law enforcement agencies that have followed the search of Mar-a-Lago.
“Releasing the government’s affidavit at this stage could also chill the future cooperation of witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” said the document “The fact that this investigation involves highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if the information is prematurely or inappropriately disclosed to the public.”
The contempt also could affect the civil liberties of those whose actions are detailed in the underlying affidavit, prosecutors said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
