The US Department of Justice has objected to the release of an affidavit detailing the reasons for the search carried out last week at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, arguing that it would undermine the criminal investigation involving the former president and would expose witnesses in the case.
Opposition from federal prosecutors came in a court filing responding to US media efforts to have the document unsealed. He also defied growing pressure from Republican lawmakers to release the affidavit, amid an outcry across conservative America over the government’s motives to search the former president’s home.
However, the Justice Department said releasing the affidavit, which served to support its request for a search warrant from a federal judge, “would cause significant and irreparable harm to this ongoing criminal investigation.”
The DoJ said the document contained ‘highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government [and] specific investigative techniques”.
“If released, the affidavit will serve as a road map for the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to jeopardize future stages of the investigation. investigation,” he added.
Last week, the FBI took the unprecedented step of searching Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of an investigation into the mishandling of a treasure trove of government documents – including highly classified documents – which he had kept since his departure. the White House.
Trump denounced the investigation — which involves possible violations of federal laws regarding the handling of national defense information, obstruction of justice and handling of government records — as a politically motivated stunt.
On Monday, he complained that federal agents seized his passports along with boxes of other gear. “Wow! In the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three passports (one expired), plus everything else,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media channel. is an assault on a political opponent on a level never seen before in our country. Third World!”
Although the Justice Department agreed last week to unseal the search warrant and a list of items recovered from Mar-a-Lago, it said releasing the affidavit would be a fundamentally different act. and pointed to the fact that the investigation involved national security.
“Disclosure of the government affidavit at this stage would also likely impede future cooperation of witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” said the Department of Justice.
“The fact that this investigation involves highly classified documents further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if information is released to the public prematurely or inappropriately,” he added. .
Over the weekend, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the Justice Department to provide them with the affidavit in support of the FBI’s closed-door search, along with any information about the threat to the national security posed by Trump’s mishandling of the documents.
Republicans reacted angrily to the effort to keep the document secret. “Why isn’t the DoJ releasing the search affidavit? What are they hiding?” Marsha Blackburn, Republican senator from Tennessee, wrote on Twitter.