Justice Department Opposes Release Of Affidavit Used In Search Of Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Property

deadline.com:

The Justice Department said in a court filing on Monday that it opposes the release of an affidavit that was used to justify its search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago property a week ago.Media outlets, including Dow Jones Co.

and ABC News, have sought the unsealing of additional records beyond the search warrant and a property receipt. The latter records, unsealed on Friday, showed that FBI agents retrieved 10 sets of classified material from the property, including those marked as top secret.

The search warrant also showed that the search was part of an investigation into potential violations of several federal statutes, including statutes prohibiting concealment, removal or mutilation; gathering, transmitting or losing defense information; and destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.In its filing, Justice Department attorneys wrote that the “the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps.

In addition, information about witnesses is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that the revelation of witness identities would impact their willingness to cooperate with the investigation.”The DOJ also cited threats received by law enforcement personnel, including a man who was killed last week after an incident in which he tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati office.On Monday, Trump gave an interview to Fox News Digital in which he railed against the search but also said, “Whatever we can do to help — because the temperature has to be brought down in the country.