What to watch out for at Mar-a-Lago search warrant hearing

How does the Department of Justice describe the risks that disclosure of the documents poses to its investigation?

The Justice Department said in its filing that its investigation would be “irreparably” damaged if the additional materials were unsealed.

“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 Department of Defense filing said. justice. It specifically stated the threat that disclosure of witness information to the FBI would “chill future cooperation from witnesses whose assistance may be sought in the course of this investigation, as well as in other high-profile investigations.”

The Justice Department could try to highlight these points in a way that gives a better idea of ​​where the probe stands.

How does the DOJ describe the national security risks of unsealing the documents?

As the Justice Department pointed out in its filing, this investigation is not just a criminal investigation, but one that “affects national security.”

“The fact that this investigation involves highly classified material further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if the information is disclosed to the public prematurely or improperly,” the Justice Department said.

Thursday’s hearing may provide some clues as to why the department attempted to conduct the search when it did.

Is Trump’s team seeking to make his views known to the judge?

The former president is officially not a party to the dispute. Instead, the Justice Department is confronting news outlets and other organizations that want the documents released. When the Justice Department moved to unseal the initial batch of warrant materials last week — specifically the search warrant itself and the property receipt from the search — the judge instructed the department to consult with Trump and inform the court whether the former president objects to the release of these materials. He did not, and they were released on Friday.

The court has not sought further information since then on how Trump views the release of more warrant material, but Trump’s views on unsealing the documents have been presented to the court in other ways. One of the groups that asked the court to unseal the documents is Judicial Watch, a conservative group that regularly advocates for transparency around government activity and documents. The organization has repeatedly flagged in court public statements made by Trump in favor of releasing the documents. Judicial Watch has asked the court to allow it to present brief arguments at Thursday’s hearing and has a deadline of 9 a.m. ET Thursday for other parties to file court filings to respond to the DOJ’s opposition to unsealing the documents.

Trump has called on social media for the “immediate release of the fully unredacted affidavit,” but whether his team will try to make a case in front of the judge remains to be seen.

Will the judge give any indication of how he will rule?

In the dispute, Rinehart was asked to weigh the Justice Department’s reasons for keeping the documents secret against the public interest in transparency surrounding a newsworthy investigation. The Justice Department — having earlier sought to declassify the initial round of materials about the warrant — has already acknowledged that there is a significant public interest that requires some transparency around the FBI’s search. But the department has drawn the line at issuing additional warrant documents.

The question is whether Reinhart draws the line there, too.

He can tell the judge what he will do during Thursday’s hearing. Or he could keep his cards close to his chest and wait to rule by written order later. Or Thursday’s hearing couldn’t fully get to the heart of both sides’ arguments and stuck to some procedural issues the judge wants to settle first.

But it would be very surprising if the judge disagreed with the Justice Department. Although this is an unusual situation, secrecy surrounding an ongoing investigation is the norm in the judicial system across the country. And the judge has already seen that search warrant affidavit and can now judge for himself the seriousness of the details in it.