World News | In Trump Case, Justice Dept. Unseals Previously Blacked-out Portions from Search Warrant Application

Washington, Jul 6 (AP) The Justice Department has disclosed some of the previously blacked-out portions of a warrant application it submitted last year to gain authorisation to search former President Donald Trump's Florida property for classified documents.

Key portions of the document had already been made public, but media organisations including The Associated Press had pressed for further unsealing in light of a 38-count indictment last month charging Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, with concealing classified records at Mar-a-Lago from investigators. The magistrate judge, Bruce Reinhart, declined to order the Justice Department to unseal the search warrant affidavit in its entirety but did require prosecutors to publicly file a less-redacted affidavit.

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Many of the paragraphs revealed on Wednesday recounted how surveillance camera footage from inside the property showed dozens of boxes being relocated in the days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited the home to collect records. During that June 3, 2022, visit, law enforcement officials were handed an envelope of 38 classified documents and told that all records sought by a subpoena were being turned over and that a "diligent search" of the home had been done.

The movement of boxes by Nauta was detailed in last month's indictment, but its inclusion in the search warrant affidavit helps explain why the Justice Department felt it had probable cause to search Trump's home on August 8, 2022, and why investigators were concerned that documents were being intentionally withheld from them.

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The affidavit recounts how someone identified only as "Witness 5" was seen on multiple days carrying either cardboard or bankers' boxes in and out of the anteroom. The affidavit does not mention Nauta by name, but the dates of the actions — as well as of an FBI interview "during which the location of boxes was a significant subject of questioning" — line up with the dates cited in the indictment.

Nauta is set to be arraigned in federal court in Miami on Thursday. Trump has already pleaded not guilty to more than three dozen felony counts, many alleging willful retention of national defence information. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)