COURT
BATTLES
Trump pushes for un-redacted affidavit’s release,
despite the risks
BY BRETT
SAMUELS - 08/21/22 6:00 AM ET
Former
President Trump is pushing for the full, unredacted release of the affidavit
that led to the search warrant for his Mar-a-Lago estate, a move that carries
risks for both Trump and the Justice Department.
“Pres.
Trump has made his view clear that the American people should be permitted to
see the unredacted affidavit related to the raid and break-in of his home,”
Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for the former president, said Thursday after
Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said he may be willing to unseal
portions of the document.
Reinhart
ordered Justice Department officials to suggest redactions to the document by
next Thursday.
“Today,
magistrate Judge Reinhard rejected the DOJ’s [Justice Department’s] cynical
attempt to hide the whole affidavit from Americans,” Budowich continued.
“However, no redactions should be necessary and the whole affidavit should be
released, given the Democrats’ penchant for using redactions to hide government
corruption, just like they did with the Russia hoax.”
Trump and
his supporters have for years believed the FBI and Justice Department are
biased against the former president, arguing that the bureau improperly
surveilled his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump
separately posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, calling for the
“immediate release” of the unredacted affidavit, citing the need for
transparency. He also called for Reinhart to recuse himself from the case
without giving a clear reason.
The
rhetoric from Trump and his camp follows a similar playbook, experts say, in
which the former president demands the release of potentially sensitive
information.
If the
government and judge decline to release the full, unredacted document, it
allows Trump and his allies to claim federal law enforcement is hiding
something, further fueling distrust among Trump supporters.
“It
certainly is consistent with a project of delegitimizing law enforcement and
law enforcement targeting him in particular,” said Dan Richman, a law professor
at Columbia University. “Because he knows, as everybody knows, the government
will regardless of the case be averse to the disclosure of search warrants as
an institutional matter.”
The
affidavit, which was used to convince Reinhart that there was enough evidence
to support the probable cause needed to obtain a search warrant, contains
information about the federal law enforcement investigation into Trump’s
handling of material marked classified following his departure from the White
House.
The Justice
Department has argued that released the affidavit could jeopardize an ongoing
investigation, as well as the sources of information in the case. Releasing
identifying information about those sources could lead to threats. Reinhart,
for example, has been subjected to threats since signing off on the warrant for
the Mar-a-Lago search.
Beyond the
risks for the Justice Department, there could be some risks for Trump should
the full affidavit come out.
“There is a
risk if it seems like he was sharing intel with unauthorized parties while out
of office,” said one former Trump adviser, who noted that such details could
ultimately be redacted by the government.
Experts
also pointed out that the affidavit could reveal exchanges between the Justice
Department and Trump’s team discussing the need to return sensitive materials,
ultimately showing the government had made multiple good faith efforts to
secure the documents in question before resorting to a search warrant.
The release
of the affidavit could also carry political risks for Trump if it bolsters the
case that Trump mishandled classified information.
Polling has
already showed a significant percentage of voters believe Trump may have broken
the law as president.
A
Politico-Morning Consult poll released days after the Mar-a-Lago search found
roughly half of registered voters approved of the raid, though only 15 percent
of Republicans approved. And 58 percent of voters said they believe Trump
definitely or probably broke the law as president.
While calls
to release the affidavit are likely to galvanize his hardcore supporters, it
could ultimately create further concerns for the broader public. Trump will
have to win over a broader base to win the White House if he runs for president
in 2024.
Richman,
the Columbia law professor, said he would not expect it to be the end of the
matter if the judge opts to release the affidavit with limited or no
redactions, saying the government would likely appeal such a decision.
“I would
expect that central to the appeal would be the broader institutional question
of whether this ought to be done,” Richman said. “It could set a really poor
precedent for high profile searches in the future.”
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