Following the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago that turned up 25 boxes of material containing hundreds of classified documents, Republicans, including Donald Trump, made loud calls for the Department of Justice to make the search warrant public … even though a copy of that warrant was provided to Trump and he could have published it in full at any time. Attorney General Merrick Garland responded by encouraging the release of that document.
However, when that warrant was published—showing the serious nature of the documents and giving some sense of the incredible frustration officials have felt in the attempt to get back stolen documents from Trump—Republican pundits and organizations switched to demanding the release of the affidavit behind the warrant. Trump joined that call in public, but he very notably did not join it in court.
Last week, federal Judge Bruce Reinhart surprised everyone by making the highly unusual decision that he would release portions of the affidavit. However, first he gave the federal government an opportunity to redact those portions of the document. Immediately came word that those portions turned out to be more or less all of the affidavit, leading to some statements from Reinhart that releasing the affidavit might be “meaningless” and made it seem as if the partial affidavit might not be released after all.
On Thursday, the Department of Justice submitted its proposed redactions. And between protecting witnesses to crimes and shielding information about documents where the document title alone represents a national security threat, there’s expected to be a lot of black ink on those pages.
Thursday, Aug 25, 2022 · 7:45:46 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
Judge Reinhart has issued a statement that seems to approve all the redactions that were requested by the DOJ, and says he will release the redacted affidavit at noon on Friday. Either the DOJ or Trump’s legal team may still appeal this ruling, but apparently Reinhart feels there is still enough visible document to be worthwhile.
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As The New York Times reports, the redactions from the Department of Justice are expected to be “extensive.” And even if the government turns in those redactions today without requesting any kind of extension, that doesn’t mean the affidavit is going to immediately drop to the public.
The most common reason for the withholding of affidavits is also the most obvious: Because telling criminals what you know and how you know it is generally a bad way to conduct a criminal investigation. And the Department of Justice has made clear this is a criminal investigation, not just a civil or regulatory matter.
It’s not only that the currently sealed affidavit contains the names of witnesses; simply revealing statements or the nature of information passed along by those witnesses could be enough to clearly identify them, and to open them up to ridicule and threats from Trump. That’s a very big reason why both federal and local governments don’t usually unseal affidavits before criminal charges are filed.
In addition to concerns about witnesses, it’s now clear that documents taken back from Trump have included at least 300 classified documents sprawling over at least 700 pages. Some of these documents are marked with the very highest levels of classification, indicating they are only to be kept and viewed in special facilities designed to eliminate the chance of duplication or transmission. These documents might contain anything from secrets about America’s placement of nuclear weapons to information on advanced weapons research, intelligence showing nuclear activity in other nations, or the identities of American agents embedded with terrorist groups.
Even the names of these documents could be enough to place national security interests at risk. Imagine documents with titles like “FBI makes progress in infiltrating upper echelons of Proud Boys,” or, “Progress on hypersonic missiles running behind schedule.” Even confirming the existence of such documents would represent a wide-ranging threat.
Naturally, much of the media—including the Times story—is playing up the idea that “Americans are smart. They can evaluate what they see, and when things are hidden from them, they get suspicious.” Which is the most obvious kind of pandering bulls**t.
Some things have to be hidden, at least temporarily, for reasons ranging from criminal justice to military effectiveness. And in this case, the truth is not only that keeping parts of the affidavit secret benefits the nation, it also benefits Donald Trump.
The redactions are currently, as expected, under seal. Any information about them is likely to come only after Reinhart finishes any further negotiations with the Department of Justice and determines whether or not to release the document.
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