By
Dareh
GregorianNBC
News
A federal judge in Florida will determine this Thursday whether to lift the secret on the affidavit that justified the search of the residence of former President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) on August 8 in search of confidential government documents.
The Justice Department opposes disclosing the document so as not to jeopardize "the ongoing criminal investigation" into a matter of national security.
Trump and his allies in the Republican Party demand that it be known and denounce the search as an "unprecedented event" that responds to the interests of the Joe Biden government.
Several media outlets, including our sister network NBC News, requested its publication, arguing that the public has "a clear and powerful interest in understanding what happened."
Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago on August 10. Steve Helber / AP
Meanwhile, FBI agents continue to review the files they recovered at Mar-a-Lago, including documents labeled top secret.
Attorney General Merrick Garland weighed for weeks whether to pursue the search warrant, a Justice Department official told NBC News.
Last week, after the operation, the prosecutor suggested in a statement that he had had no other choice: "Whenever possible, it is common practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to the search and limit the scope of the search."
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The Justice Department indicated in a court motion Monday that it is open to releasing more documents about the investigation, but not the affidavit because it could "cause significant and irreparable harm to this ongoing criminal investigation."
"If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap for the ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a way that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps," he said.
It could also harm witnesses who have already been interviewed and interfere with future testimony.
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Witness information is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that disclosure of witness identities will affect their willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
"Release of the government affidavit at this stage would also likely undermine the future cooperation of witnesses whose assistance may be requested as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations," he said.
"The fact that this investigation involves highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if information is prematurely or incorrectly disclosed to the public," it added.
The motion stated that the Department of Justice consented to the opening of the search warrant and the list of documents seized at the residence of Trump, who denounced the search.
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Documents the Justice Department agreed to release indicate that agents had probable cause to believe there was material at Mar-a-Lago that "constitutes evidence of crimes, contraband, proceeds of crime, and other illegally possessed materials." .
A list of the objects that were recovered in the former president's mansion included 11 sets of classified documents, including some classified as top secret, highly confidential.
Trump complained that the agents had "stolen" three passports (one diplomatic and the other two expired) along with "everything else".
The agents returned them on Monday, explaining that they had been taken by mistake.
