Prefacing the redacted affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago search, a legal brief that explains the proposed redactions for the affidavit was released by the Justice Department, in advance of the redacted affidavit itself. The brief simply explains the reasons for the redactions:
"The DOJ argued that, without the proposed redactions, 'the affidavit could be used to identify many, if not all, of these witnesses.'
What follows is two paragraphs of redacted material.
'If witnesses' identities are exposed, they could be subjected to harms including retaliation, intimidation, or harassment, and even threats to their physical safety,' the filing said. 'As the Court has already noted, 'these concerns are not hypothetical in this case.' (our emphasis)
In justifying the redactions, the Justice Department spells out in glaring terms that the Malignant Loser and his cult are likely to retaliate against anyone who "snitched" to the Feds -- to use one of his organized crime terms. They add that the concerns are not hypothetical in the case of the MAGA cult and its master.
The redacted affidavit was released shortly after, and lays out the events that led up to the application for a search warrant in the Trump property that established probable cause. What follows are paragraphs of redacted information regarding that. There's also the explicit statement that the Justice Department believed there was evidence of obstruction of justice as CNN reports with updates:
“There is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified (National Defense Information) or that are Presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at (Mar-a-Lago),” the FBI affidavit says. “There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at (Mar-a-Lago.),” the affidavit continues. (our emphasis)
In another section of the affidavit, it's noted that 15 boxes containing classified information were stored in unauthorized locations:
"Investigators wrote that none of the spaces in Trump’s residence had been authorized for storage of classified information.
'Based upon this investigation, I believe that the STORAGE ROOM, FPOTUS's residential suite, Pine Hall, the ‘45 Office,’ and other spaces within the PREMISES are not currently authorized locations for the storage of classified information or NDI (national defense information),' the affidavit says. 'Similarly, based upon this investigation, I do not believe that any spaces within the PREMISES have been authorized for the storage of classified information at least since the end of FPOTUS 's Presidential Administration on January 20, 2021,” according to the affidavit.'" (our emphasis)
Despite the redactions, there are lots of detail in the document that should cause the Malignant Loser and his Kraken legal team night sweats.
