On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart unsealed more of the heavily redacted affidavit which was used as justification for the raid on the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.
When the affidavit was first partially unsealed last month, over half of the document was unreadable, with approximately 20 pages of the 38-page affidavit either significantly or fully redacted.
That version of the affidavit revealed that the FBI said it had “probable cause to believe” that they would find additional records containing classified information, including national defense information, on the premises of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, more than the former president had previously turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Justice Department asked to reveal parts of the original affidavit that were initially redacted, specifying that they wanted to release information related to grand jury subpoenas. Reinhart agreed Tuesday afternoon and released a new version that unsealed additional sections that provided more details on the timing of subpoenas and Trump’s cooperation with them.
One portion of the affidavit that was initially redacted revealed that Trump, in addition to the original 15 boxes of records provided to the National Archives and Records Administration, produced additional documents bearing classification markings in response to a grand jury subpoena.
“Since the FIFTEEN BOXES were provided to NARA, additional documents bearing classification markings, which appear to contain NDI and were stored at the PREMISES in an unauthorized location, have been produced to the government in response to a grand jury subpoena directed to FPOTUS’s post-presidential office and seeking documents containing further classification markings stored at the PREMISES and otherwise under FPOTUS’ control,” the unsealed portion of the affidavit states.
Another newly unredacted section details what the May 24 subpoena was seeking, including “any and all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald J. Trump and/or the Office of Donald J. Trump bearing classification markings.”
Another unsealed portion shows that Justice Department lawyers sent Trump’s lawyer a letter that “permitted alternative compliance with the subpoena by ‘providing any responsible documents to the FBI at the place of their location’ and by providing from the custodian a ‘sworn certification that the documents represent all responsive records.’”
“The letter further stated that if no responsive documents existed, the custodian should provide a soon certification to that effect,” the affidavit continues.
Further, it was revealed that an extension was “granted for compliance with the subpoena,” which originally was set for May 24. On June 3, “three FBI agents and DOJ counsel arrived at the premises to accept receipt of the materials.”
Finally, it shows that a grand jury subpoenaed footage from surveillance cameras at Mar-a-Lago on June 24.
“On July 6, 2022, in response to this subpoena, representatives of the Trump Organization provided a hard drive to FBI agents,” another unsealed portion of the affidavit states.
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