The anti-Trump federal judge who issued the search warrant was persuaded for some reason, and Republicans are demanding more details on this. Now it would seem that the DOJ is opposed to the release of the underlying affidavit for FBI Mar-A-Lago raid.
According to Politico’s Kyle Cheney, the Department of Justice has objected to the publication of the FBI affidavit that served as the basis for the raid on Mar-a-Lago last week because they believe it “it would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps.”
“The fact that this investigation implicates highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation,” the DOJ said in a Monday court filing.
Trump as well as other Republicans ramped up their requests for the affidavit’s unveiling on Sunday, following the release of a search warrant last week that revealed Trump had 11 sets of classified material at his home, which he informed journalist John Solomon were declassified before they were brought out of the White House. The DOJ persuaded the judge that they had the right to search the premises because of possible Espionage Act offenses, which have nothing to do with classification concerns.
In spite of this, the DOJ claims it will make more raid-related records public.
The DOJ further claims that the disclosure of the FBI affidavit will “chill future cooperation” on the part of witnesses.
The anti-Trump federal judge who issued the search warrant was persuaded for some reason, and Republicans are demanding more details on this.
“I think a releasing the affidavit would help, at least that would confirm that there was justification for this raid,” GOP Senator Mike Rounds told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, adding that the DOJ should “show that this was not just a fishing expedition, that they had due cause to go in and to do this, that they did exhaust all other means.”
“And if they can’t do that, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”
Separately on Sunday, the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio, asked the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to provide the seized documents on a classified basis.
A spokesperson for the committee, charged with oversight of the handling of classified information, said the two senators had also requested “an assessment of potential risks to national security” as a result of possible mishandling of the files.
Representative Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN on Sunday that the Biden administration should provide more details on what led to the search.
“Congress is saying, ‘Show us. We want to know what did the FBI tell them? What did they find?'” Turner said.
–Reuters
Read the document below:
DOJ-Opposes-Release-Of-Underlying-Affidavit-For-FBI-Mar-A-Lago-Raid
Big Changes ahead for DOJ – – can we imagine someone w dynamism a la Elon Musk or any other first rate executive overseeing Justice Dept. ….Bottom LINE would mean Service to your customer base as in the American Public – – firings for lack of competence and firings for wasting company resources would be hugely. …..someday ? …..well actually very soon in mho. …. ….shalom to all