The United States Justice Department on Friday released a partially blacked-out document explaining the justification for an FBI search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month, when agents removed top secret government records and other classified documents.
In an acknowledgment of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart last week ordered the department by Friday to make public a redacted version of the affidavit. The directive came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward.
In explaining the need for redactions in a separate filing, the Justice Department said “the affidavit is replete with further details that would provide a roadmap for anyone intent on obstructing the investigation.” The department also expressed concern about compromising the identities of potential witnesses or FBI agents who were involved in executing the search.
Earlier this week, it was learned that the National Archives and Records Administration recovered more than 100 documents bearing classified markings, totalling more than 700 pages, from an initial batch of 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this year, according to newly public government correspondence with the Trump legal team.
The letter was made public Tuesday on the website of the National Archives. It was released Monday night on a website launched by John Solomon, who was appointed by Trump in June to be one of his designated representatives to the National Archives and who is a Trump ally and conservative journalist.
In the letter, a National Archives official wrote that in the boxes, items marked as classified at the top secret level as well as information about special access programs had been identified.
The affidavit released Friday indicated that the process of getting the documents back has been ongoing since at least May 2021.
U.S. President Joe Biden, when asked by a reporter on Friday, said it was up to the Justice Department to determine if national security was compromised at Trump’s Florida home.
For all the latest World News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
