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The Justice Department requested on Monday that a Florida judge keep the affidavit sealed concerning the warrant that led to the raid on former President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate on August 8.
Merrick Garland’s Justice Department wants to keep the affidavit portion sealed “to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”
An affidavit is the inciting incident of the warrant. It’s the party’s written oath or statement under penalty of perjury.
“Information about witnesses is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that the revelation of witness identities would impact their willingness to cooperate with the investigation,” the DOJ said.
The warrant allowed more than 30 federal agents to storm Trump’s Florida property on the assumption that Trump and his team hadn’t given back all the documents deemed government property, under the Presidential Records Act.
“Disclosure of the government’s affidavit at this stage would also likely chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” the DOJ said in reference to sources.
“There remain compelling reasons, including to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security, that support keeping the affidavit sealed,” the DOJ said.
“The government does not object to unsealing other materials filed in connection with the search warrant whose unsealing would not jeopardize the integrity of this national security investigation,” save for redactions to protect government personnel, the filing reads.
The request to view the information was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by a variety of media groups who wanted to see the information.
Senators Mark Warner and Marco Rubio wrote Avril Haines, the director of National Intelligence, and Attorney General Merrick Garland for more information on the incident.
“In his remarks, Attorney General Garland claimed there was a substantial public interest in the execution of an unprecedented search warrant on President Trump,” Rubio wrote in a statement.
“As such, the Intelligence Committee has asked the Department of Justice to share with us, on a classified basis, the specific intelligence documents seized from Mar-a-Lago.”
In regards to the purpose of the request, a committee spokesperson told Spectrum News, “The Senate Intelligence Committee is charged with overseeing counterintelligence matters, including the handling and mishandling of classified information, which appears to be at the core of the search of Mar a Lago.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said over the weekend that she “absolutely cannot” divulge any information about where President Joe Biden stands on the issue.
“It would be inappropriate for me to speak on that because the president has been very clear and unequivocal about this is that when it comes to law enforcement matters, investigation, the Department of Justice has complete, complete independence,” she said.
A federal judge set a hearing for Thursday on whether to unseal more documents related to the search.
