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Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump asked a judge on Monday not to release a key document related to the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, saying it contained “highly sensitive information” that could compromised the national security investigation.
The government’s request came three days after a federal judge made public the search warrant and other materials that outlined some key details of the raid at the former president’s Palm Beach, Florida, resort home.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said last week that he personally approved the warrant and that he supported its disclosure in light of the “significant public interest in this matter.”
But the Justice Department on Monday rejected calls to release the affidavit supporting the search warrant, saying it “presents very different considerations.”
“There remain compelling reasons, including to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that interferes with national security, that support keeping the affidavit sealed,” federal prosecutors wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court in Florida.
The affidavit contained “critically important and detailed investigative facts,” they said in the filing, which was signed by Jay Bratt, chief of the counterintelligence and export control division of the DOJ’s national security division.
Those facts included “highly sensitive witness information, including witnesses interviewed by the government; specific investigative techniques; and information required by law to be kept under seal” in accordance with federal rules, prosecutors wrote.
“If disclosed, the affidavit 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 highly likely to compromise future steps in the investigation,” the document said.
“Additionally, witness information is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that disclosure of witnesses’ identities could affect their willingness to cooperate with the investigation,” prosecutors wrote.
They also said they were considering whether to release a heavily redacted version of the affidavit, but concluded that “the redactions necessary to mitigate the damage to the integrity of the investigation would be so extensive as to render the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful content.” “
The search warrant and property receipt unsealed Friday shed a lot of light on the search of Trump’s home, while raising more questions about the federal investigation into the former president.
The documents show the FBI seized 20 boxes of items and other materials, including multiple sets of documents marked top secret and classified. The warrant shows agents sought material related to three criminal statutes, one of which is part of the Espionage Act.
One of the laws, which deals with the removal or destruction of government documents, carries a penalty of “disqualification from holding any office in the United States,” according to the law’s text. None of the three laws — Title 18 of the United States Code, Sections 793, 1519 and 2071 — depends on whether the documents in question are classified.
Earlier on Monday, Trump wrote on his social media platform that the FBI took three of his passports — including one that was expired — during the raid.
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