DOJ releases redacted Mar-a-Lago affidavit

The Justice Department on Friday made public the affidavit that supported the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the department to release the document by noon Friday after he reviewed the government’s proposed redactions Thursday. Other classified documents, like the warrant’s cover sheet, revealed that the investigation centers on Trump’s possible “willful retention of national defense information.” On Monday, Reinhart had said that redactions to the affidavit could be so extensive that the document could be rendered meaningless to the public.

What’s in the affidavit? Not much, as the affidavit is largely blacked out. One unredacted portion confirms that the FBI did review 15 boxes worth of documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago affidavit by the National Archives and Records Administration, which likely provided the basis for the search. Another unredacted portion confirms that the FBI had contacted Trump’s legal counsel before the search. A federal judge said over the weekend that she will likely grant Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review the seized documents for attorney-client privilege.

Dig deeper: Read Lynn Vincent’s report in WORLD magazine about how the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate may usher in a new era in American politics.