Justice Department attorneys proposed redactions to the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, multiple outlets reported.
Although a federal judge demanded that the government submit its request under seal by noon ET Thursday, it's unlikely the affidavit immediately would be released, The New York Times reported.
FBI agents raided Trump's Florida home Aug. 8 with a search warrant saying the former president had 11 sets of classified documents at his home, and that the DOJ had probable cause to conduct the search based on possible Espionage Act violations.
Trump and allies, however, say the documents had been declassified.
The DOJ has not released the affidavit — the secret document that justified the FBI search — despite calls from Republicans to do so.
The proposed redactions to the affidavit are intended to shield investigators' sources and methods for collecting evidence, Politico reported.
Judge Bruce Reinhart last week signaled that he was inclined to make portions of the affidavit public. Such documents usually remain under seal until criminal charges are filed or an investigation is closed.
"DOJ confirmed they met MJ Reinhart's noon deadline for filing a submission re: proposed redacted version of the sealed affidavit outlining why the govt sought a warrant to search Trump's Mar-a-Lago home (and legal args for those redactions), more soon from @eelarson and @cstrohm," Bloomberg News reporter Zoe Tillman tweeted at 12:22 ET.
"We don't know what's in DOJ's submission to the court and we don't have a timeline for when Reinhart will act next."
In a written order Monday, Reinhart said he would not release details about sources and methods the government relied on in the affidavit.
He also said that he might decide that it would be pointless and unnecessary to release any version of the document if the proposed redactions are extensive.
"I cannot say at this point that partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion after hearing further from the Government," Reinhart wrote.
Politico said that the timeline for Reinhart to review the proposed redactions was undefined.
Trump joined other Republicans in calling for the DOJ to release "the completely Unredacted Affidavit" related to the raid.
"There is no way to justify the unannounced RAID of Mar-a-Lago, the home of the 45th President of the United States (who got more votes, by far, than any sitting President in the history of our Country!), by a very large number of gun toting FBI Agents, and the Department of 'Justice' but, in the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN. Also, the Judge on this case should recuse!" Trump posted on Truth Social on Aug. 15.
Trump attorney Christina Bobb told Newsmax on Friday that "almost nothing" will be revealed with the release of the affidavit
"At best, we get almost nothing. At worst, we get a very heavily redacted version," Bobb said on "Wake Up America." "The Department of Justice is comfortable leaking very select pieces of information that make it look like they have something more than they actually have, so I don't expect a lot to come out of this."
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