The judge overseeing the release of the affidavit behind the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home has decided to release the affidavit.
However the judge says the DOJ has narrowly tailored redactions that will be allowed on the affidavit:
BREAKING: Judge orders redacted affidavit behind Mar-a-Lago search to be released.
"On or before noon Eastern time on Friday, August 26, 2022, the Government shall file in the public docket a version of the Affidavit containing the redactions proposed in ECF No. 89-1."— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) August 25, 2022
Judge: "Based on my independent review of the Affidavit, I further find that the Government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the Government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation … "
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) August 25, 2022
Judge orders Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit unsealed with the redactions that were proposed by DOJ. Must come out by noon tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/TNmE7JfTMX
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 25, 2022
We can all speculate that the redactions will make the affidavit useless but the truth is we won’t know until we see it tomorrow. It really depends on how narrowly tailored the redactions are and whether they hide the real reason for the raid.
According to Fox News, this is what the redactions will hide:
Reinhart said that after reviewing the Justice Department’s redaction, the government “has met its burden of showing a compelling reason” and “good cause to seal portions of the Affidavit,” saying the disclosure would reveal “the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties,” the investigation’s “strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods, and “grand jury information” protected by federal rules.
It’s the investigation’s “strategy, direction, scope” that I really wanted to see so maybe it will be useless without that information. We’ll know tomorrow at noon.