Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered for a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit to be released by noon Friday.
The big picture: The affidavit outlined the evidence for the FBI's search at former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents he took with him when he left office.
Details: Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered for the affidavit to be unveiled with redactions by noon ET on Friday.
- He wrote that "the government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire Affidavit."
- Reinhart will reportedly review the department's redactions and decide whether or not to release the affidavit, per Reuters.
- He said that the redactions could be so heavy that they could "render the document devoid of content."
Flashback: Reinhart filed a written order Monday that suggested he would call for portions of the affidavit to be unsealed, Axios' Erin Doherty reported.
- "Given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence," the U.S. government did not make a strong enough case to seal the affidavit, Reinhart wrote.
- "I therefore reject the government’s argument that the present record justifies keeping the entire Affidavit under seal," he wrote.
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