The affidavit used to justify the search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home could reveal "damning information" about the former president when it is released, according to a prominent legal expert.
As part of an investigation into potential violations of multiple federal laws including the Espionage Act, FBI agents recovered multiple boxes of classified documents from Trump's South Florida home during the raid on August 8. Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered that the Department of Justice (DOJ) release a redacted version of the affidavit by noon Friday.
Trump and many of his allies have called for the affidavit, which provides the basis for the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago, to be released in a full, unredacted version. The DOJ had argued that the document should remain entirely sealed, citing the ongoing investigation and the possibility of jeopardizing the safety of witnesses.
Lawyer Neal Katyal, who has argued multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and served as acting solicitor general for the administration of former President Barack Obama, said in a Thursday interview on MSNBC that he thought "the Justice Department won" with the affidavit's release. Katyal said that he expects the version that is released will still contain damaging information for Trump and show that the former president was scoffing at authorities.
"The part that's not redacted, that we'll all get to see?" said Katyal. "I suspect it's going to have some damning information about Donald Trump ... I expect in that affidavit to be a good discussion of all of the attempts that the Justice Department and the FBI had to try and retrieve these documents from Mar-a-Lago."
"And that President Trump was thumbing his nose at them," he continued. "It underscores what [Attorney General] Merrick Garland is doing here. He's just following the rules, but he's winning by following the rules."
The search warrant executed during the raid was released within days. The revealing of the affidavit, however, as well as how much of the document would be redacted, have been heated topics of discussion in recent weeks.
Trump's lawyer Lindsey Halligan argued during a Newsmax interview last week that the release of anything other than the full, unredacted affidavit reflected an unfair "lack of transparency" by authorities.
"We want to review the affidavit for ourselves," Halligan said. "So, their withholding of information is essentially controlling the flow of information and that is the first step to tyranny."
Barbara McQuade, legal analyst and former U.S. attorney, responded to Halligan's argument on Twitter by saying that the "claim of mistreatment is pure disinformation."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's office and the DOJ for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
