Former President Trump is incensed over the DOJ’s release of the heavily redacted affidavit used to justify raiding his home, while the agency claimed it had probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction would be found in documents at his residence.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
“Affidavit heavily redacted!!! Nothing mentioned on ‘Nuclear,’ a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOJ, or our close working relationship regarding document turnover – WE GAVE THEM MUCH. Judge Bruce Reinhart should NEVER have allowed the Break-In of my home. He recused himself two months ago from one of my cases based on his animosity and hatred of your favorite President, me. What changed? Why hasn’t he recused himself on this case? Obama must be very proud of him right now!” Trump charged on Truth Social.
Director of Communications for Save America Taylor Budowich also decried the affidavit on Twitter: “The release of a heavily redacted, overtly political affidavit only proves that the Biden administration is desperate to cover up their unprecedented, unnecessary, and un-American raid against President Donald J. Trump. This is a grave travesty, and what is unredacted only further supports President Trump’s position, there was NO reason for a raid – it is all politics!”
Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak nailed Democrats in general after the release of the affidavit, “If I were a Democrat who hoped the affidavit would have enough to condemn Trump I would be deeply disappointed. Their only hope would have to be that there is something in the redacted bits to justify raiding a former POTUS. Don’t be fooled by whatever BS they post; they’re upset.”
Former adviser to Trump, Stephen Miller, commented, “The idea, spelled out in the affidavit, that the Archives sicced the FBI on President Trump—on the premise that unelected bureaucrats, not POTUS, had final authority on national security—can only be construed as an attempt to overthrow our entire democratic constitutional order.”
BREAKING 🚨 :
President Trump responds to the release of the heavily redacted affidavit
"a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOB…" pic.twitter.com/WY0DwdG7SF
— CaitlinSinclairTV (@CSinclairtv) August 26, 2022
This is a grave travesty, and what is unredacted only further supports President Trump's position, there was NO reason for a raid – it is all politics! 2/2
— Taylor Budowich (@TayFromCA) August 26, 2022
The idea, spelled out in the affidavit, that the Archives sicced the FBI on President Trump—on the premise that unelected bureaucrats, not POTUS, had final authority on national security—can only be construed as an attempt to overthrow our entire democratic constitutional order.
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) August 26, 2022
If I were a Democrat who hoped the affidavit would have enough to condemn Trump I would be deeply disappointed. Their only hope would have to be that there is something in the redacted bits to justify raiding a former POTUS. Don't be fooled by whatever BS they post; they're upset
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) August 26, 2022
#BREAKING: Read an early copy of the Trump raid affidavit. pic.twitter.com/S7xyGkWgr1
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) August 26, 2022
Fox News reporter David Spunt surprisingly concluded, “This affidavit released is 38 pages long and not nearly as redacted as some thought it may be. There are 38 pages, as I say. It talks about the introduction and agent background. I’m going through and you can see right here that this explains — and I have not had a chance to look at this because the site was crashing as this came down.”
“We can see a little bit about why — and I want to read the probable cause section right here. This is the reasoning the judge signed off on the search warrant,” he continued.
“Right here is the probable cause section and it says, ‘February 9th, 2022, the special agent in charge of the Inspector General’s national archives that were referred to DOJ and specifically talks about some of the communications between the Trump team down at Mar-a-Lago and the national archives up here in Washington, DC,” Spunt added.
“Further, there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified NDI or that are Presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the PREMISES. There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the PREMISES,” he reported.
Here is the affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago raid. This really appears to be a dispute between Trump and the national archives over the storage of presidential papers. It’s staggering to me Biden’s AG would stage a raid over this dispute. Insanity: https://t.co/ju1aXiOrte
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 26, 2022
“So, I will go through this I will make some notes. I will come back when I have a little bit more, but I don’t want to show where everybody that are pages and big chunks of redacted as we expected,” Spunt then stated, “Department of Justice did not want to release this document, but ultimately complied with a court order to do so.”
The agency is asserting that 14 out of the 15 boxes that were recovered earlier this year contained classified information as part of the reasoning for the raid, according to the Daily Mail.
Including documents already turned over, the FBI asserts that the former president had 184 documents, 67 of which were allegedly confidential, 25 were top-secret, and handwritten notes in boxes that were turned over to the National Archives. Using that premise the FBI concluded that the raid was warranted.
Another outrageous and nonsensical reason given was that they feared if the classified documents were released, it could compromise “clandestine human sources.”
Having read the redacted affidavit, it leaves most questions unanswered. It also raises further doubt over the Court's acceptance that the DOJ found the Goldilocks point of getting this "just right." The DOJ released what was largely already leaked or known.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 26, 2022
The DOJ asserted that large portions of the affidavit were redacted to protect the identity of civilian witnesses and members of law enforcement, including FBI agents. They contend that airing the full document could potentially “erode trust” in the government’s investigation.
“In short, the government has well-founded concerns that steps may be taken to frustrate or otherwise interfere with this investigation if facts in the affidavit were prematurely disclosed,” the document asserts.
The affidavit also claims that Trump did not have a secure place to store the documents even though agencies had reportedly installed their own lock on the room where they were stored.
The affidavit is out: pic.twitter.com/YcysU4Q8KJ
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) August 26, 2022
The FBI was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday to make the redacted affidavit public by noon on Friday. He contended that the redacted portions were sufficiently narrow in scope.
“I find that the government has met its burden of showing a compelling reason/good cause to seal portions of the affidavit,” he noted, while asserting that redacted portions were necessary to protect witnesses, agents, and parties who had not been charged as well as the investigation itself.
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