WASHINGTON – In Florida, former President Donald J. The Justice Department on Monday objected to the release of the affidavit used to justify the search of Trump’s home, saying its release would “compromise future investigative proceedings” and “coerce” cooperation with witnesses.
In a 13-page petition filed in federal court in South Florida in response to requests from The New York Times and other news organizations, lawyers recommended that evidence included in the document be made public. Mr. Trump’s handling of some classified government documents after he left office.
Advocates Mr. They admitted to interviewing witnesses in connection with the investigation into Trump’s retention of the material. They also wrote that releasing the document would compromise the ongoing investigation.
“Disclosure of the government’s affidavit at this point would reduce the future cooperation of witnesses whose assistance it may seek as this investigation progresses,” the attorneys wrote. They added that the release of the affidavit could harm “other high-profile investigations”.
One of the government’s reasons for not releasing the affidavit was to protect witnesses’ identities against death threats. On Monday, prosecutors in Pennsylvania unsealed the charges A man is accused of repeatedly threatening to kill FBI agents Mr. Days after Trump’s properties were raided.
The magistrate judge who signed the search warrant, Bruce E. Reinhardt will ultimately decide whether the affidavit should be released. It is not clear when he will rule on the news media’s request.
A week after FBI agents showed up at the resort, the legal and political ramifications of the search were still reverberating while the president was in his club in Bedminster, NJ.
Attorney General Merrick B. Mr. Garland accused Mr. Garland of conducting a politically motivated “witch hunt” and randomly expropriating his family’s property. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that “the government stole three of my passports.” An online platform founded by him.
Late on Monday, the Justice Department admitted the mistake and ordered Mr. Trump’s legal team contacted — two of which were expired and a third was an active diplomatic passport, according to Evan Corcoran, one of the former president’s lawyers and a spokesman. to the department.
In a statement late Monday, the FBI said it “follows court-ordered search and seizure procedures and then returns items not required to be retained for law enforcement purposes.”
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Mr. Garland It agreed to issue the warrant last week Mr. Trump’s private club has been used to search but has resisted efforts to make public the underlying affidavit, a highly sensitive document that, among other things, gives prosecutors reasons to believe there is potential evidence of a crime at Mar-a-Lago, Fla., in Palm Beach. Trump’s garden.
Although the investigation into the mishandling of government documents has been known for months, Mr. Neither is considered as important as the department’s extensive investigation into the attack on the Capitol, which is moving closer to Trump and his top advisers.
As part of an investigation into possible violations of the Espionage Act and other laws, Mr. During a raid on Trump’s home, federal agents seized classified documents. Search warrant It was made public on Friday.
At least one lawyer Mr. Trump signed a written statement in June confirming that all of the classified and boxed items in a storage area at Mar-a-Lago had been returned to the government, four people familiar with the document said.
Even when the former President counterattacked, Mr. New details have emerged about how Trump and his inner circle violated regulations and laws governing the handling of government records.
According to two people familiar with the situation, Mr. Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, failed to organize the effort to collect, box and deliver the items. National Archives – Previous Presidents and Mr. Trump’s own vice president is Mike Pence.
Instead, they mostly focused on settling political grievances and personal grudges.
From the White House Mr. In the weeks leading up to Trump’s departure, officials debated what to do with items that had been taken from various locations to his residence and needed to be properly stored and returned.
By then, Staff Secretary Derek Lyons, known for trying to keep systems in place, had left the administration. Mr. Meadows, according to a senior executive, said it would address such issues.
While all this was going on, across West Executive Avenue, Mr. A very different scene unfolded in Pence’s less frenzied office.
Mr. When Trump tried to take over, Mr. Two of Pence’s senior aides — Mark Short, his chief of staff, and Greg Jacobs, his adviser — cataloged and boxed all of his government documents, according to three former officials. of work.
Mr. Jacob spent most of his last few days in the government making final boxes, Mr. The official said, with the intention of ensuring that Pence left office without a single piece of paper that he did not own.
