(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The US Justice Department said it opposes unsealing the
affidavit that prosecutors used to obtain a federal judge's
approval to raid former President Donald Trump's Florida home,
where they seized classified documents, Trend reports citing
Al
Arabiya .
“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,” prosecutors wrote
in their filing.
Trump's Republican allies in recent days have ramped up their
calls for Attorney General Merrick Garland to unseal the document,
which would reveal the evidence that prosecutors showed to
demonstrate they had probable cause to believe crimes were
committed at Trump's home -- the standard they had to meet to
secure the search warrant.
On Friday, at the Justice Department's request, a federal court
in south Florida unsealed the search warrant and several
accompanying legal documents that showed that FBI agents carted
away 11 sets of classified records from Trump's Mar-a-Lago
resort.
Some of the records seized were labeled as“top secret” - the
highest level of classification reserved for the most closely held
US national security information.
Such documents usually are kept in special government facilities
because disclosure could damage national security.
The Justice Department on Monday cited this as another reason to
keep the affidavit sealed, saying the probe involves“highly
classified materials.”
The agency said it would not oppose the release of other sealed
documents tied to the search, such as cover sheets and the
government's motion to seal.
The warrant released on Friday showed that the Justice
Department is investigating violations of three laws, including a
provision in the Espionage Act that prohibits the possession of
national defense information and another statute that makes it a
crime to knowingly destroy, conceal or falsify records with the
intent to obstruct an investigation.
Trump has since claimed, without evidence, that he had a
standing order to declassify all of the materials recovered at his
home.
The decision by Garland to unseal the warrant was highly
unusual, given the Justice Department's policy not to comment on
pending investigations.
On the same day Garland announced his decision to seek to unseal
the warrant, an armed man with right-wing views tried to breach an
FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He was later shot dead by police following a car chase.
Prosecutors on Monday cited the recent violence and increasing
threats against the FBI as another reason not to release the
affidavit.
“Information about witnesses is particularly sensitive given the
high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that the revelation
of witness identities would impact their willingness to cooperate
with the investigation,” they wrote.
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