Justice Department releases slightly less redacted Trump warrant affidavit

The Justice Department (DOJ) on Wednesday released a slightly less redacted version of the affidavit that convinced a judge to approve a search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last year.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled earlier in the day that more information from the affidavit be made public, while denying a request from several news organizations to have the entire document unsealed.

Reinhart said in his ruling that the DOJ agreed to have some additional parts of the affidavit be made public, but also asked for other parts to remain sealed “to comply with grand jury secrecy rules and to protect investigative sources and methods.”

He found that the DOJ had “met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions of the affidavit are narrowly tailored to serve the Government’s legitimate interests and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire search warrant affidavit.”

Reinhart stayed the order until July 13 to give the DOJ time to determine whether to appeal.

The prior version of the affidavit was released nearly a year ago. The document revealed that Trump had far more classified material than was previously known and indicated he had mischaracterized his level of cooperation with federal officials in the matter.

Trump, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign last November, was charged with 37 counts last month for his mishandling of classified documents and efforts to prevent the federal government from retrieving them.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.