A group led by former Trump administration members requested video, audio and body camera recordings of the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.
Freedom of Information requests filed by America First Legal, founded by Trump staffers Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows, claim transparency demands release of the raid footage. Miller was a senior adviser to the 45th president; Meadows became Trump’s White House chief of staff.
The Epoch Times further reported:
“Releasing the entirety of the raw and unedited video footage and audio recordings will be the best chance the American people have of knowing what actually happened when federal agents descended upon and spent almost twelve hours at President Trump’s home last week,” the group said Tuesday in announcing the FOIA request.
The group is asking for all Department of Justice and FBI recordings regarding the search warrant and all records about its request, according to several FOIA requests.
“While we expect—and have witnessed—dishonesty and obfuscation at almost every turn from this administration, the raw video footage and audio recordings that were taken during the raid may be the American people’s best chance to know about the Department of Justice’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s conduct during the raid,” John Zadrozny, deputy director of investigations with American First Legal, said in the statement.
Last week, several organizations including news outlets and watchdogs asked a judge in the case to release the FBI search warrant and property receipt, which were unsealed by the court on Aug. 12. Now, Republicans and Trump are seeking the release of the affidavit, which would provide more insight into the justification the federal government used to procure a warrant.
The Department of Justice on Monday argued in a court filing that the affidavit—even in its redacted form—should not be released to the public. Releasing the legal document, the agency’s lawyers said, would damage their investigation.
The affidavit allegedly contains “critically important and detailed investigative facts” and releasing it would damage an “ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”
“If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps,” the filing said.
Nonetheless, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered a Thursday afternoon hearing on whether to release the affidavit.
Republicans and Trump’s team say the affidavit should be released, in part, because of the FBI’s unprecedented raid on a former president and a possible 2024 presidential candidate.
One argument could be that a professional search pursuant to a warrant should have nothing to hide, so why not release the audio and video footage.
If the Justice Department refuses to release video of feds rummaging through Melania’s unmentionables, Trump could authorize release of his security camera video recordings.
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