The Florida magistrate judge who approved the warrant allowing the FBI to search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is set to hold a hearing Thursday to weigh unsealing the probable-cause affidavit.
The hearing comes after a host of media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, filed a motion Wednesday requesting the affidavit to be unsealed.
In their motion to unseal the affidavit the media outlets argued the “public has a ‘clear and powerful’ interest in understanding the unprecedented investigation in former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified records.”
The judge presiding over the hearing, Bruce Reinhart, faced a wave of death threats after he approved the search warrant. It is not clear if he will be making a decision from the bench or if he will instead take the motion under advisement.
The Department of Justice said Monday it would not be unsealing the affidavit, arguing the release would interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
“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,” the DOJ’s court filing said.
Trump has called for the “immediate release” of the “unreacted” affidavit, saying he was “cooperating fully” before the search.
“In the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Also, the Judge on this case should recuse!”
A federal judge unsealed the search warrant and list of seized property on Friday. The list included roughly 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note, the executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone, as well as information about French president Emmanuel Macron.