U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday released several procedural court documents related to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home in Mar-a-Lago.
The newly released documents provide further details on the potential offenses being investigated by the Department of Justice – describing the offenses as the “deliberate withholding of national defense information” as well as the “concealment or deletion of government documents” and “obstructing the federal investigation”. ”
In filings, prosecutors also argued that search warrant documents prior to Monday’s Mar-a-Lago search should be kept secret, “because the integrity of the ongoing investigation could be compromised and evidence could be destroyed”.
Documents filed include the Justice Department’s motion to seal the warrant documents, the order granting that sealing request, and the criminal cover sheet.
The cover sheet also states that the Department of Justice requested to search Mar-a-Lago, believing they could both find evidence of these crimes and recover illegally possessed items.
To note: It’s not the search warrant affidavit, which would contain more details. The judge plans to hear more from the Justice Department by next week about the extent to which investigators want to keep confidential the document that outlines their investigative steps and methods leading up to the need for the search.