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The U.S. Justice Department has filed with the judge a redacted affidavit that federal agents relied on when they searched former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate for classified documents.
The document was filed under seal, and it’s unclear when, or how much, it might be made public.
“The United States has filed a sealed submission pursuant to the court’s Aug. 22 order,” Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement. “The Department of Justice respectfully declined to comment further as the court considered the matter.”
Judge Bruce Reinhart has given the department until noon Thursday to propose to him to amend any part of the affidavit before it is released to the public.
But he acknowledged on Monday that the edited or blacked-out sections could be so extensive that they make the document largely incomprehensible.
The affidavit may contain key information about the basis for the FBI’s August 8 search warrant at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Documents that have been made public as part of the investigation show the FBI retrieved 11 sets of classified documents from the property, including information marked top secret.
Multiple news media organizations argued in court last week for the disclosure of the document, arguing that a federal search of the former president’s residence was of extraordinary public interest.
The Justice Department has opposed the release of the affidavit, saying it could reveal information about witnesses and sensitive investigative techniques.
Judge Reinhart has said that while he is sensitive to the department’s concerns, he is not inclined to keep the entire document private. He instructed officials to provide him with a version of the document redacted with information it wanted to keep secret.
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