The U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday that it opposes releasing details of the search warrant in Mar-a-Lago, the home of former President Donald Trump.
The agency is against the release of testimony that prosecutors used to obtain approval from a federal judge to search the former president’s home.
In its new lawsuit, the Justice Department made clear the seriousness of the ongoing criminal investigation, saying it “involves highly confidential materials.”
“Release of government testimony at this stage would also likely cool the future cooperation of witnesses whose assistance may be requested as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” the Justice Department wrote.
“The fact that this investigation involves highly confidential materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential harm if the information is released to the public prematurely or inappropriately.”
Media organizations, including the CNN called for the statement to be opened after last week’s search of Trump’s club and home in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Justice Department said in its filing that releasing the details of the testimony “at this time” “would cause significant and irreparable harm to this ongoing criminal investigation.”
“The redactions necessary to mitigate damage to the integrity of the investigation would be so extensive as to render the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful content, and the release of such a redacted version would serve no public interest,” the Department of Justice said.
THE CNN joined by The Washington Post, NBC News and Scripps, asked the judge last week to open all documents — including any statements of probable cause — related to the FBI search.
“Not since the Nixon administration has a president been the subject of such a dramatic and public criminal prosecution,” the media said in the document, adding that the media are “trying to shed light on the federal government’s unprecedented actions and motivations.”
“Here, there could be no more ‘historically significant event’ than an FBI raid on a former president’s home for the alleged removal of national security records after leaving office,” the media said.
The New York Times, CBS, the Palm Beach Post, the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and ABC also asked the judge for affidavits.
A magistrate judge opened the search warrant and the Mar-a-Lago property receipt on Friday after lawyers for the former president’s Department of Justice agreed they should be released.
Other parts of the search warrant, including the statement of probable cause, were not addressed at the time.
The search warrant identifies violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and criminal manipulation of government records as grounds for the search.
The receipt list, which shows which items agents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago, shows that agents removed 11 sets of classified documents — including some marked with the highest classification levels — from Trump’s house.
Source: CNN Brasil
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