The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is opposing the release of details contained in an affidavit that was used to argue that a probable cause existed for the search of Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Florida estate belonging to former President Donald Trump.
What Happened: The Department said in a new filing that the “disclosure of the government's affidavit at this stage would also likely chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations," reported CNN.
The DoJ said that the investigation “implicates highly classified materials.” The federal executive department said the release of details contained in the affidavit at this juncture would cause “significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation.”
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Why It Matters: A number of news outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post, had reportedly asked a judge to unseal the affidavits.
The DoJ said that releasing the affidavit would “not serve any public interest” because of the extensive amount of redactions “necessary to mitigate harms to the integrity of the investigation,” according to CNN.
Last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the Justice Department would make public the warrant and property receipt related to the search conducted by federal agents at Trump’s estate.
At the time, Garland said that much of DoJ’s work is conducted out of the public eye to protect the constitutional rights of Americans and the integrity of investigations. He said more information would be made available in “the appropriate way and at the appropriate time.”
The search warrant later showed that the agents recovered 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, with some documents marked as top secret.
On Aug. 8, Trump had said on Truth Social, a unit of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was raiding Mar-a-Lago.
TMTG is chaired by Trump and the company is slated to go public via a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:DWAC).
Price Action: On Monday, Digital World Acquisition closed 0.4% lower at $29.63 in the regular trading and declined another 0.3% in the after-hours session, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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