
The affidavit mentioned an article published in May by Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official who called media reports about the National Archives identifying classified material at Mar-a-Lago "misleading."īrandon Fox, a former federal prosecutor now with the law firm Jenner & Block, said the references to Trump's claims about declassifying the documents are significant, even though much of the material is redacted. The newly released documents showed how Trump allies tried to claim he had declassified the records in question as a way to downplay the investigation. The FBI agent said in the affidavit that a preliminary review in May of records the Archives earlier received from Trump found 184 "unique documents" labeled as classified - 67 marked "confidential," 92 marked "secret" and 25 marked "top secret." BIDEN WEIGHS INĪsked by reporters if it is ever appropriate for a president to bring home classified material, Biden said: "It depends on the document and it depends on how secure" the location is.īiden added that he has a "completely secure" site at his home and that he was taking home on Friday a copy of his daily intelligence briefing, but said those records would later be returned to the military. "Judge Bruce Reinhart should NEVER have allowed the Break-In of my home," Trump wrote. Trump's legal team has not formally made such a request. Trump complained on social media that the released affidavit was "heavily redacted" and demanded that Reinhart step aside from the case, without giving any apparent basis. The few lines that are unredacted raise more questions than answers."

Trump's lawyers said their motion should be granted because the redacted affidavit "provides almost no information that would allow (Trump) to understand why the raid took place, or what was taken from his home. Cannon asked for more information about the request. Trump had filed a similar motion on Monday, but U.S. Late on Friday, Trump filed a "supplemental" motion asking the court to block the government from reviewing the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago until a third party known as a "special master" can be appointed to oversee the review. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the search warrant based on the affidavit, on Thursday ordered the release of a redacted version. But after media organizations sued to make it public U.S. The department had sought to keep the affidavit secret. An additional six pages of documents were released with it. Most pages had at least some portions blacked out. The 32-page affidavit, a sworn statement outlining evidence that gave the Justice Department probable cause to ask a judge to approve a search warrant, was heavily redacted at the department's request. intelligence-gathering, the affidavit showed, as well as details on how the nation conducts foreign surveillance and information it collected using a law that established the U.S. Other defense-related records Trump had returned contained references to topics including "clandestine human sources" who help U.S. "There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises," the agent added.
