Justice Department releases redacted Trump search affidavit
Affidavit drops clues on scale of FBI investigation (bbc.com)184 classified files were found in January alone (washingtonpost.com)Classified Material on Human Intelligence Sources Helped Trigger Alarm (nytimes.com)FBI found highly classified documents mixed with magazines, personal correspondence (apnews.com)Possibility of Obstruction Looms Over Trump After Thwarted Efforts to Recover Documents (nytimes.com)Inside the 20-Month Fight to Get Trump to Return Presidential Material (nytimes.com)‘That Puts People’s Lives at Risk!’ Norm Eisen Aghast at Highly Sensitive Documents ‘Stuck in a Closet at Mar-a-Lago’ (mediaite.com)NY Times Declares Trump Must Be Indicted If Guilty — Despite Threat of Civil Unrest (mediaite.com)Alan Dershowitz Tells Fox News ‘There Is Enough Evidence Here to Indict Trump’ (mediaite.com)‘The Former President Is Going to Be Prosecuted’: Mueller Investigator Predicts Feds Will Indict Trump (mediaite.com)‘Sobering’: MSNBC Analyst Says DOJ Affidavit Tries to Protect ‘Significant Number of Civilian Witnesses’ from (mediaite.com)
The paperwork just released, containing portions of the affidavit, is as predicted heavily redacted.
The document says: “Information in the affidavit could be used to identify many, if not all, of these witnesses. For example” – which is followed by a long redacted passage.
The document then adds: “If witnesses’ identities are exposed, they could be subjected to harms including retaliation, intimidation, or harassment, and even threats to their physical safety. As the court has already noted, ‘these concerns are not hypothetical in this case’.”
Another redacted passage follows, then the following text appears:
“Meanwhile, FBI agents who have been publicly identified in connection with this investigation have received repeated threats of violence from members of the public. Exposure of witnesses’ identities would likely erode their trust in the government’s investigation, and it would almost certainly chill other potential witnesses from coming forward in this investigation and others.”
…
“Although the public is now aware that the government executed a search warrant at the premises owned by the former President and seized documents marked as classified, the affidavit is replete with further details that would provide a roadmap for anyone intent on obstructing the investigation.”
The full redacted affidavit is here.
Some further takes:
Holy shit, the affidavit references HUMINT potentially being compromised by the documents at MAL.
Human intelligence is some of our most secret, most important, and most difficult to collect.
Obvious Q: why does he have info that could burn sources?https://t.co/8gYUVRlZZi
— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) August 26, 2022
Alarm grew earlier this year when NARA, which received 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago in January, found "highly classified records" that were "unfoldered, intermixed with other records" and improperly identified.https://t.co/cyqg1IcmhY
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 26, 2022
MARK THIS DAY
Affidavit says this about a former President's residence:
"Probable cause exists
to believe that evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation will be found at the premises" pic.twitter.com/1ksSdmHUUi— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 26, 2022