The U.S. Department of Justice on August 26, 2022 released a partially-redacted affidavit which supported the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago. (Image: U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida)
Aug 26, 2022
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released a redacted version of a 38-page affidavit that supported the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this month.
The affidavit was heavily redacted, but revealed that the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was prompted by the agency's review of 15 boxes of materials that Trump turned over to the National Archives in January, a year after leaving office.
"If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The boxes that Trump had retained contained documents marked "top secret," which were subject to the highest level of national security restrictions, barred from being "released in any form to foreign governments, foreign nationals, foreign organizations, or non-U.S. citizens without permission of the originator."
The affidavit said the Justice Department sought to search Mar-a-Lago due to concerns that Trump's retention of highly classified documents could compromise "clandestine human sources"--people working in the intelligence community who collect information from around the world for the U.S. government.
"There's absolutely no good reason for Trump to have" such materials at Mar-a-Lago, said Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), "but many bad reasons."
The affidavit states that "there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified [national defense information] or that are presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the premises. There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises."
The DOJ requested that about half of the content of the pages be redacted to protect its investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act by retaining national security documents.
"First and foremost, the government must protect the identity of witnesses at this stage of the investigation to ensure their safety," DOJ lawyers wrote in a memo regarding their redaction requests.
Witnesses in the investigation could face "retaliation, intimidation, or harassment, and even threats to their physical safety," they added.
Based on what Trump handed over to the National Archives in January, the FBI agent who signed the affidavit wrote, "probable cause exists to believe that evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation 18 U.S.C. SSSS 793(e), 2071, or 1519 will be found at the premises."
Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW, noted that the affidavit describes extensive discussions between the DOJ and Trump's team regarding the documents that the FBI believed were still at Mar-a-Lago, prior to the raid on August 8.
"This was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously," said Bookbinder. "There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort."
\u201cThis was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously. There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort.\u201d— Noah Bookbinder (@Noah Bookbinder) 1661534075
Trump pushed for the release of the affidavit, but as CREW tweeted Friday, "If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The complete redacted affidavit released by the DOJ can be accessed here.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released a redacted version of a 38-page affidavit that supported the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this month.
The affidavit was heavily redacted, but revealed that the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was prompted by the agency's review of 15 boxes of materials that Trump turned over to the National Archives in January, a year after leaving office.
"If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The boxes that Trump had retained contained documents marked "top secret," which were subject to the highest level of national security restrictions, barred from being "released in any form to foreign governments, foreign nationals, foreign organizations, or non-U.S. citizens without permission of the originator."
The affidavit said the Justice Department sought to search Mar-a-Lago due to concerns that Trump's retention of highly classified documents could compromise "clandestine human sources"--people working in the intelligence community who collect information from around the world for the U.S. government.
"There's absolutely no good reason for Trump to have" such materials at Mar-a-Lago, said Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), "but many bad reasons."
The affidavit states that "there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified [national defense information] or that are presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the premises. There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises."
The DOJ requested that about half of the content of the pages be redacted to protect its investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act by retaining national security documents.
"First and foremost, the government must protect the identity of witnesses at this stage of the investigation to ensure their safety," DOJ lawyers wrote in a memo regarding their redaction requests.
Witnesses in the investigation could face "retaliation, intimidation, or harassment, and even threats to their physical safety," they added.
Based on what Trump handed over to the National Archives in January, the FBI agent who signed the affidavit wrote, "probable cause exists to believe that evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation 18 U.S.C. SSSS 793(e), 2071, or 1519 will be found at the premises."
Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW, noted that the affidavit describes extensive discussions between the DOJ and Trump's team regarding the documents that the FBI believed were still at Mar-a-Lago, prior to the raid on August 8.
"This was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously," said Bookbinder. "There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort."
\u201cThis was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously. There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort.\u201d— Noah Bookbinder (@Noah Bookbinder) 1661534075
Trump pushed for the release of the affidavit, but as CREW tweeted Friday, "If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The complete redacted affidavit released by the DOJ can be accessed here.
From Your Site Articles
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released a redacted version of a 38-page affidavit that supported the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this month.
The affidavit was heavily redacted, but revealed that the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was prompted by the agency's review of 15 boxes of materials that Trump turned over to the National Archives in January, a year after leaving office.
"If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The boxes that Trump had retained contained documents marked "top secret," which were subject to the highest level of national security restrictions, barred from being "released in any form to foreign governments, foreign nationals, foreign organizations, or non-U.S. citizens without permission of the originator."
The affidavit said the Justice Department sought to search Mar-a-Lago due to concerns that Trump's retention of highly classified documents could compromise "clandestine human sources"--people working in the intelligence community who collect information from around the world for the U.S. government.
"There's absolutely no good reason for Trump to have" such materials at Mar-a-Lago, said Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), "but many bad reasons."
The affidavit states that "there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified [national defense information] or that are presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the premises. There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises."
The DOJ requested that about half of the content of the pages be redacted to protect its investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act by retaining national security documents.
"First and foremost, the government must protect the identity of witnesses at this stage of the investigation to ensure their safety," DOJ lawyers wrote in a memo regarding their redaction requests.
Witnesses in the investigation could face "retaliation, intimidation, or harassment, and even threats to their physical safety," they added.
Based on what Trump handed over to the National Archives in January, the FBI agent who signed the affidavit wrote, "probable cause exists to believe that evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation 18 U.S.C. SSSS 793(e), 2071, or 1519 will be found at the premises."
Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW, noted that the affidavit describes extensive discussions between the DOJ and Trump's team regarding the documents that the FBI believed were still at Mar-a-Lago, prior to the raid on August 8.
"This was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously," said Bookbinder. "There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort."
\u201cThis was clearly not a search done lightly or precipitously. There were ample opportunities for Donald Trump's team to work this out quietly. This was a last resort.\u201d— Noah Bookbinder (@Noah Bookbinder) 1661534075
Trump pushed for the release of the affidavit, but as CREW tweeted Friday, "If Trump thought getting the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago search affidavit released would be good for him, he was sorely mistaken."
The complete redacted affidavit released by the DOJ can be accessed here.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.