In Monday’s filing, prosecutors said the affidavit contained sensitive information about witness statements in the investigation, later adding that they feared releasing the requested documents would “chill” future testimony from other potential witnesses.
While the Justice Department did not object to the release of the search warrant last week, the department argued Monday in a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that the affidavit must remain sealed “to protect the integrity of a ongoing law enforcement investigation involving national security.” The judge will make the final decision on whether the affidavit should be unsealed. The search warrant was unsealed Friday and revealed that federal law enforcement officials are investigating the former president for violations of laws governing the removal or destruction of records, obstruction of an investigation and a provision of the Espionage Act related to the gathering, transmission or loss of defense information;
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 22: Aerial view of Mar-a-Lago, billionaire Donald Trump’s beachfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida. John Roca/NY Daily News File via Getty Images The documents unsealed Friday included a proof of ownership from the Aug. 8 investigation that said the FBI had seized 11 sets of classified documents, including four sets marked “top secret.” The FBI seized, among other things, photos and information about the president of France. Several media outlets, including CBS News, filed court requests last week to gain access to all documents — including any underlying affidavits — related to the search warrant. The affidavit is likely to contain key details about the administration’s investigation into Trump. But while the Justice Department “carefully considered whether the affidavit may be released subject to changes,” it said in Monday’s court statement that “the corrections necessary to mitigate the damage to the integrity of the investigation would be so far-reaching that render the rest of the unsealed text devoid of substantial content and the circulation of such a revised version would serve no public interest’. “However, if the Court orders partial unsealing of the affidavit, the government respectfully requests an opportunity to provide the Court with the proposed amendments,” the Justice Department continued. The Justice Department said it would be permissible to unseal other documents related to the search warrant, the government’s motion to seal the search warrant and the accompanying sheets related to the search warrant.
In January, National Archives officials retrieved 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago, some of which contained classified information. In July, a lawyer for Trump certified to investigators that all classified material had been turned over to the National Archives. Trump claimed last week that he had declassified all the material seized at Mar-a-Lago while he was still in office. While a sitting president has broad declassification ability, Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he has seen no evidence of him declassifying material while in office. Further, Schiff said the authority to declassify material does not extend to a former president and called it “preposterous” for Trump to claim “18 months after the fact” that he had retroactively declassified the documents he took to Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told CBS News’ Robert Costa that Trump’s handling of classified documents “concerned” him. According to Bolton, the intelligence agencies would bring in photographs or charts for the president to see and give them to him. “Often, the president would say, ‘Well, can I keep this?’ And in my experience, the intelligence people more often than not said, “Well, sir, we’d rather have it back,” Bolton said. “But sometimes they forgot.” Earlier this year, the National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of records. The National Archives also said at the time that some of the documents Trump turned over to them had been cut and taped together.
Trump’s allies on the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to top Biden administration officials on Monday demanding they send Congress documents and communications related to the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s residence.