A federal judge unsealed the heavily reacted 32-page affidavit the FBI used to justify a raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
New details in the affidavit reveal that the FBI justified the search because they said that back in January, Trump’s attorneys delivered 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives and Records Administration, claiming that those documents contained ‘classified’ and ‘top secret’ information.
Trump’s attorneys have said they previously certified that all classified information had been removed from Trump’s Florida residence.
In seeking a judge’s permission for a warrant to search the property, an FBI agent wrote on the first page of the affidavit,
“The government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records.”
However, Trump frequently conducted his presidential duties out of Mar-a-Lago while he was President.
The affidavit does not give justification, any new details, or reference the boxes that were removed from Trump’s home on Aug. 8.
The hope was that releasing the affidavit would shed light on why the FBI found it necessary to raid Trump’s home and whether or not they were justified in their raid..
However many claim that because the report was so redacted – Approximately 20 pages of the 38-page affidavit were either significantly or fully blacked-out – it did nothing to provide transparency to the people and dispel the optics that the Biden Administration weaponized the Department of Justice for political gain and prosecution.
Republican North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop wrote on social media following the documents’ release.
“So much for transparency,”
So much for transparency. pic.twitter.com/BiZpMMqz2l
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) August 26, 2022
“This is unacceptable,” wrote Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, “The American public deserves more transparency.”
