DOJ To Unseal More Documents Related To Trump Raid, Refuses To Unseal Key Document

The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to unseal more documents related to the raid on former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida but will not unseal the underlying FBI affidavit because it claims that doing so will damage the ongoing criminal investigation.

U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez and Justice Department counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt said in a court filing that unsealing the affidavit could also cause damage to U.S. national security.

“Disclosure at this juncture of the affidavit supporting probable cause would, by contrast, cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation,” Bratt wrote. “If disclosed, 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.”

Bratt warned that unsealing the affidavit would risk revealing the identities of witnesses who could then decide to not cooperate in this investigation or “other high-profile investigations.”

“The fact that this investigation implicates highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if information is disclosed to the public prematurely or improperly,” he added.

Bratt said that investigators do not object to unsealing other materials related to the raid that have not been released yet, which may need to first receive minor redactions, including cover sheets related to the search warrant application and other documents.

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