{"id":105117,"date":"2026-06-14T19:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105117"},"modified":"2026-06-14T19:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:05:22","slug":"florida-judge-instructs-doj-to-redact-mar-a-lago-search-affidavit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105117","title":{"rendered":"Florida Judge Instructs DOJ to Redact Mar-a-Lago Search Affidavit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Judge\"
Courtesy of Joe Gratz (Flickr CC0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contrary to the Justice Department\u2019s strong objections, a Florida federal judge told reporters he was \u201cinclined to unseal at least some of the probable cause affidavit.\u201d He instructed the DOJ to submit proposed redactions by noon Aug. 25, 2022.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart believes unsealing portions of the document would not jeopardize the government\u2019s investigation that led to last week\u2019s FBI search of former President Donald Trump\u2019s private residence at his millionaires-only resort Mar-a-Lago. During the hearing, the DOJ, represented by Jay Bratt, argued the criminal investigation was still in its early stages.<\/p>\n

Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence section, stressed that releasing any part of the affidavit would reveal the future direction of the investigation and disclose powerful grand jury testimony. In addition, the DOJ is concerned unsealing the document might dissuade other witnesses from coming forward. There is significant concern about witness safety.<\/p>\n

He pointed out examples of the significant concern: Anyone with computer skills would be able to find their identities, like the FBI agents involved in the search at Mar-a-Lago who were doxxed online. Bratt also noted the attack at the Cincinnati FBI office; the suspect fired a nail gun into the building before being killed. He expressed anger over the so-called raid on Trump\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Bratt reminded the judge that he signed off on the warrant after finding probable cause, including at least one obstruction of justice statute at the former president\u2019s residence. Unsealing the affidavit could risk future obstruction.<\/p>\n

\"Judge\"
Courtesy of MV Jantzen (Flickr CC0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bratt opposed releasing a redacted affidavit. He argued the redactions would be extensive since the document contained a considerable amount of grand jury information and the DOJ\u2019s investigative methods. As a result, \u201cit would show \u2018nothing of substance,’\u201d The Guardian reported.<\/p>\n

However, the government agreed to unseal supporting documents that would not threaten the investigation. The search warrant\u2019s application cover sheet and the court\u2019s order offered more details. \u201cNotably, the cover sheet showed the department\u2019s descriptions of potential crimes at Mar-a-Lago: Willfull retention of national defense information, concealment or removal of government records, and obstruction of a federal investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. National Archives confirmed that officials discovered 15 cartons of classified materials Trump improperly took from the White House, which violates the 1978 Presidential Records Act. The agency recovered the boxes and reported their discovery to the justice department.<\/p>\n

Written by Cathy Milne-Ware<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

The Washington Post:<\/strong> Judge signals he\u2019s willing to unseal some of Mar-a-Lago affidavit; by Josh Dawsey and Perry Stein
\nNBC News:<\/strong> Judge says he\u2019s inclined to unseal parts of Mar-a-Lago search affidavit, orders government to submit redactions; by Marc Caputo, Dareh Gregorian, and Rebecca Shabad
\nThe Guardian:<\/strong> Judge orders DoJ to prepare redacted Trump search affidavit for possible release; by Hugo Lowell and Richard Luscombe<\/p>\n

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Joe Gratz\u2019s Flickr Page \u2013 Creative Commons License
\nInset Image Courtesy of MV Jantzen\u2019s Flickr Page \u2013 Creative Commons License<\/p>\n

\n

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Courtesy of Joe Gratz (Flickr CC0) Contrary to the Justice Department\u2019s strong objections, a Florida federal judge told reporters he was \u201cinclined to unseal at least some of the probable cause affidavit.\u201d He instructed the DOJ to submit proposed redactions by noon Aug. 25, 2022. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart believes unsealing portions of the document […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105117"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/105118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}