The DOJ’s willingness to unseal numerous documents related to the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence only goes so far.
Up until this point, the DOJ unsealed pertinent information, including the search warrant, but they refuse to publicly release the key document which spurred the raid in the first place.
If transparency and equity under the law is top priority for the DOJ, then why won’t they inform the American public of the exact legal process used to justify an unprecedented raid against a Former President?
Could it be the affidavit used to justify the raid would uncover some damning details exposing this entire debacle as nothing but a politically-motivated witch hunt?
The DOJ gives a number of excuses as to why the affidavit should remain sealed, including “to protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation that implicates national security.”
Funny how they always fall back on “national security” when backed into a corner. Here’s a thought, if Donald Trump jeopardized national security by removing classified documents from the White House, why did it take the DOJ over two years to seize them?
These are the answers buried deep within the DOJ affidavit.
Trump calls for release of affidavit used to justify the sham warrant for the Biden political raid on his home. https://t.co/Gd5e6lIISn pic.twitter.com/tuGg0kw6sA
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 16, 2022
Trump is now being treated as a foreign spy and is currently under investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act, according to the warrant unsealed Friday, which cited 18 U.S. Code 793 (part of the Espionage Act) related to “gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information.”
The warrant also pointed to 18 U.S. Code 2071 on “concealment, removal, or mutilation generally” and 18 U.S. Code 1519 on “destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy.” The latter relates to obstruction of justice.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who once served as personal counsel for Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, signed the warrant on Aug. 5 and it was executed by gun-totting FBI agents on Aug. 8.
Despite “personally approving” the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Attorney General Merrick Garland is now urging the former Epstein judge to keep the initial affidavit sealed.
Numerous groups and outlets, including the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, the New York Times, CBS News, and the Washington Post, sought access to the affidavit in recent days.
“Disclosure at this juncture of the affidavit supporting probable cause would, by contrast, cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation,” the DOJ argued, saying the affidavit contains “highly sensitive” information about witnesses, specific investigative techniques, and information “required by law” to be kept under seal.
The affidavit could serve as a “roadmap to the government’s ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course” and could “compromise future investigative steps,” the Justice Department warned.
Meanwhile, the records seized by FBI agents (besides Trump’s personal property out of the warrant’s scope) were already declassified by the Former President, thus delegitimizing the entire raid.
“Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything,” Trump said on Truth Social last week when condemning the search.
“They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in a secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.”
Essentially, the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence will do nothing except reinvigorate his base while also expanding his support.
The politically-motivated witch hunt against the political enemy will backfire historically — and Democrats aren’t ready for it.
Author: Asa McCue
