WASHINGTON — A key court document that allowed federal agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Florida home for highly classified government records earlier this month was released at noon on Friday.
The 32-page affidavit lays out the basis for the Justice Department’s case and the FBI’s search of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate, including evidence that classified national security records were moved there by Trump after he left the White House.
The document, while heavily redacted, included some new details of the search and what was found. It notes that the documents of concern were found in 15 boxes mixed with the former’s presidents personal papers, newspaper clippings, photos and other material. Overall, the search recovered 184 classified documents — 67 marked confidential, 92 as secret and 25 marked top secret. The FBI agent who wrote the affidavit notes such documents typically contain national security information and that some included the president’s hand-written notes.
It was discovery of those May documents that prompted the follow-up search on Aug. 8.
The federal court’s electronic system was so overwhelmed by inquiries that it appeared to crash, delaying the wide release of the documents.
Many pages in the affidavit, filed by an agent whose name was blacked out for personal safety reasons, remained heavily redacted, as the Justice Department and magistrate judge who granted the initial search warrant agreed that releasing the full affidavit would compromise the government’s ongoing criminal investigation.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Trump broke the law in his handling of highly classified information, including some of the most sensitive material in the U.S. government.
The government had opposed efforts by media organizations and conservative groups to secure the document’s release. But Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to propose redactions to the document last week, stating that he would rather release a partially concealed document than keep it entirely sealed. Reinhart accepted the proposed redactions on Friday.
Trump’s legal team did not weigh in one way or another on whether the affidavit should be released, but the former president made public statements calling for it to be unsealed.
The government had a chance to appeal the judge’s decision to release the redacted affidavit, but chose not to do so.
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