Why did a judge order the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Florida home? A previously secret document provides information about what the investigators put forward for the approval. The media interest is so great that the server collapses at first.
A much-anticipated document has been partially released following a search of former US President Donald Trump's home. The US Department of Justice, by order of a judge, published the document, with some redactions, on the basis of which the search warrant for Trump's private home Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was approved. Due to the high level of public interest, the online database of court documents was completely overwhelmed.
A judge in the state of Florida had ordered the partial publication on Thursday. The Justice Department created a redacted version to protect sensitive information. Several media had requested publication.
According to the Washington Post, the now-released document demonstrates the unprecedented nature of the criminal investigation into whether the former president and his advisers stole classified government documents and refused to return all the material, even in the face of demands from senior law enforcement officials.
The document, now redacted, is a 38-page affidavit that persuaded the judge to authorize the search. She explains, according to the report, that federal investigators examining the contents of 15 boxes Trump returned to the National Archives earlier this year found documents with classification marks. Some were labeled as top secret government information, while others related to material not to be shared with foreign nations. In total, these boxes contained 184 documents with classification marks, according to the FBI affidavit. Some of the documents, according to the affidavit, allegedly contain handwritten notes by Trump.
The affidavit also cites an email from Trump's attorney, Evan Corcoran, to the Justice Department, in which he defended the ex-president's conduct. His argument: The ultimate classification authority within the government rests with the president.
Investigator affidavits are detailed documents about an investigation that law enforcement officers present to judges in the hope that they will grant their requests for search warrants. The document usually contains important information about witnesses, and clues as to why investigators believe evidence of a crime can be found on a specific property or device. It also lists investigative steps taken prior to a search. It is unusual to release the details of such a statement, especially in an ongoing investigation, the Washington Post wrote.
The federal police FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on August 8th. The background is the Republican's handling of documents from his term as President until January 2021. The FBI confiscated several sets of documents classified as top secret in Mar-a-Lago. Because Trump kept the records at his private estate, he may have broken the law. This is now being investigated. Trump criticizes the actions of the authorities as politically motivated and defends himself with a lawsuit.
