To gain authorization to search former US President Donald Trump‘s Florida property for classified documents, the Justice Department on Wednesday (July 5) disclosed some of the previously blacked-out portions of a warrant application it submitted in 2022.
Even though the majority part of the document had already been made public, several media organizations including The Associated Press had pushed for further unsealing of the document in light of a 38-count indictment last month. These indictments charged Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, with concealing classified records at Mar-a-Lago from officials.
As per the latest development, a magistrate judge, Bruce Reinhart declined to order the officials to unseal the search warrant affidavit completely but directed the prosecutors to publicly file a less-redacted affidavit.
The unveiled parts of the document revealed crucial evidence that prosecutors had gathered well before the search took place. This includes the mention of surveillance footage from Trump’s property which shows dozens of boxes being relocated by a Trump aide just days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited the property to collect them.
During that June 3, 2022 visit, law enforcement officials were handed an envelope of 38 classified documents and told that all records sought by a subpoena were being turned over and that a “diligent search” of the home had been done. But investigators had reason to believe that was not true based on the relocation of boxes that they had observed on video, and that additional records remained at the house.
The movement of boxes by Nauta was detailed in last month’s indictment, but its inclusion in the search warrant affidavit helps explain why the Justice Department felt it had probable cause to search Trump’s home on Aug. 8, 2022 and why investigators were concerned that documents were being intentionally withheld from them.
The affidavit recounts how someone identified only as “Witness 5” was seen on multiple days carrying either cardboard or bankers’ boxes in and out of the anteroom at the house. The affidavit does not mention Nauta by name, but the dates of the actions — as well as of an FBI interview “during which the location of boxes was a significant subject of questioning” — line up with the dates cited in the indictment.
Nauta is set to be arraigned in federal court on Miami on Thursday. Trump has already pleaded not guilty to more than three dozen felony counts, many alleging willful retention of national defense information.
(With inputs from Associate Press)