Justice Dept. In Trump case, Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The Justice Department revealed on Wednesday some previously darkened portions from a warrant request it submitted last summer to obtain authorization to search the Florida property of former President Donald Trump for classified documents.

The Associated Press and other media outlets had pushed for the release of more information, especially after a 38-count indictment last month that charged Trump and his valet Walt Nauta with hiding classified records from investigators at Mar-a-Lago. The magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart declined to order that the Justice Department unseal the entire search warrant affidavit but required prosecutors to file a less redacted version of the document.

In many of the newly revealed passages, it was described how the footage of surveillance cameras from the inside of the property showed that dozens of boxes were being moved in the days leading up to the FBI and Justice Department investigators visiting the home to gather records. On June 3, 2022 law enforcement officials received an envelope containing 38 classified documents. They were also told that the subpoena had requested all records and that they were being provided.

In the indictment of last month, Nauta’s movement of boxes was described. But its inclusion in the warrant affidavit explains why the Justice Department believed it had probable grounds to search Trump’s house on August 8, 2022 and why investigators worried that documents were intentionally being withheld.

The affidavit describes how “Witness 5” was seen multiple times carrying cardboard boxes or bankers’ box into and out of the anteroom. The affidavit doesn’t mention Nauta, but dates from the anteroom and an FBI interview in which “the location of boxes” was discussed were in line with those in the indictment.

Nauta will be arraigned at a federal court in Miami on Thursday. Trump has already pleaded no contest to over three dozen felony charges, including many that allege willful retention information about national defense.

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