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Judge orders Trump search warrant to be redacted and made public

Big Al
August 18, 2022

Judge Orders Justice Dept. to Redact and Release Version of Affidavit Used to Search Trump’s Home

The hearing emerged from an effort last week by a coalition of news organizations to unseal the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant.

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Supporters of former President Donald J. Trump outside of the Federal District Court in West Palm Beach.
Credit…Saul Martinez for The New York Times
 
Supporters of former President Donald J. Trump outside of the Federal District Court in West Palm Beach.
 
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the government to redact and ultimately release a version of the highly sensitive warrant affidavit that was used to justify a search by the F.B.I. last week of former President Donald J. Trump’s private home and club.

Ruling from the bench, the judge, Bruce E. Reinhart, said that there were portions of the affidavit that “could be presumptively unsealed.”

“Whether those portions would be meaningful for the public or the media,” he added, was not for him to decide.

 

Judge Reinhart’s surprising decision struck a middle course between the Justice Department, which wanted to keep the affidavit entirely under wraps as its investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents continued, and a group of news organizations, which requested that it be released in full to the public.

 

Warrant affidavits — which are written and sworn to by federal agents before a search takes place — contain detailed information about criminal investigations and are almost always kept under seal until charges are filed.

As part of his ruling, Judge Reinhart ordered the government to send him under seal proposed redactions to the warrant affidavit by next Thursday at noon. He said he would review the suggestions and decide if he agreed with them.

“This is going to be a considered, careful process,” Judge Reinhart said.

 

Patricia Mazzei is the Miami bureau chief, covering Florida and Puerto Rico. She writes about breaking news, politics, disasters and the quirks of life in South Florida. She joined The Times in 2017 after a decade at The Miami Herald. 

Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence. He joined The Times in 1999. @alanfeuer

Discussion
40 Comments
    Aug 18, 2022 18:20 PM

    Considering………….. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ,….was involved in the EPSTEIN case….
    So,…. interesting times…… Sorry state of affairs…….

    Aug 18, 2022 18:58 PM

    hey larry……
    …..On Wednesday, Aug. 17, without warning, Facebook informed Children’s Health Defense (CHD) that our page was deplatformed (unpublished). Simultaneously, our Instagram account was deplatformed (suspended). Each of these platforms had hundreds of thousands of followers.
    Fighting Big Tech + Big Pharma

    Despite not posting content on Facebook for the past 21 days due to an existing 30-day ban, and constantly self-censoring our content in an attempt to avoid continual shadow-banning and censorship, both pages were abruptly deplatformed. Removing CHD accounts is evidence of a clearly orchestrated attempt to stop the impact we have during a time of heightened criticism of our public health institutions.

    Deplatforming by the tech giants came days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly walked back many of their previous COVID-19 policies that CHD has criticized since the beginning of the pandemic. Within hours of CHD deplatforming, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky shared her plans for overhauling how the agency works while admitting to a flawed response to the COVID-19 and pandemic missteps.

    There’s no clear indication of why Facebook and Instagram chose to deplatform us at this time, but the timing dovetails with our ongoing censorship lawsuit against Facebook. CHD filed a lawsuit against Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, in August, 2020. Recently, in its Ninth Circuit Court appeal filed on July 29, CHD provided the court with CDC-produced documents the agency shared with Facebook. These documents, provided to Facebook on a regular basis, contained what the CDC considered misinformation. Titled “COVID Vaccine Misinformation: Hot Topics,” the CDC documents asked tech giants to “be on the lookout” (BOLO) for various topics they consider to be misinformation including: COVID-19 vaccine shedding, VAERS reports, spike protein data and more. The CHD case is currently pending in a Ninth Circuit decision.

    Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said:

    “Facebook is acting here as a surrogate for the Federal government’s crusade to silence all criticism of draconian government policies. Our constitutional framers recognized this peril of government censorship. We don’t need a First Amendment to protect popular or government approved speech. They incorporated the First Amendment specifically to protect free expression of dissenting opinions. They understood that a government that can silence its critics has license for every atrocity.”

    Roger Teich, CHD legal counsel for the Meta lawsuit, added, “Censorship is not only unconstitutional, it’s un-American.”

    Big Tech Wants Us Silenced … Don’t Let Them Stop Us!

    Despite attempts to censor CHD, we will continue our important mission. Many people only followed us on these large social media platforms so it is important that we let them know we have been deplatformed. Please share all or parts of this email with your friends and family so they can sign up for our free newsletter, “the Defender,” and watch our censorship-free shows streaming live daily on CHD.TV. Right now, email is the most reliable way to stay in touch.

    If You Followed Us on Facebook and Instagram, You Can Find CHD’s Same Great Content on Other Social Media Channels

    Don’t miss our critical information and content! Children’s Health Defense can also be found on Twitter, Telegram, Rumble, MeWe, Parler, Gab, Gettr, Reddit, Bitchute, TikTok and Sovren. Follow us on these platforms and spread the word with others to do the same.

      Aug 18, 2022 18:25 PM

      There are TWO CASES open under this judge against Trump.

      A minor case will have the affidavit unsealed, BUT THE MAJOR CASE WILL REMAIN SEALED.

      I’m not an attorney, but the media are idiots who don’t know what is going on.

      Aug 18, 2022 18:16 PM

      I happen to agree w every word from Mr. Kennedy….He after-all is the front line on this endless war against the children’s and public health by the corporate medical cartel..All of them but for the 1% are full time liars and frauds…I have so many stories you have no idea Jerry….DOC’s that walk around righteous like they are not co-operative willing scum sicken me…sicken

        Aug 18, 2022 18:19 PM

        Thanks for the reply……larry………..

    Aug 18, 2022 18:34 PM

    The minor case against Trump is filed under 22-mj-4338-ber,
    The major case filed earlier on the same day is under: 22-mj-4332-ber.
    The 4332 case remains sealed.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:03 PM

    President Donald Trump on Thursday posted on social media that he declassified materials in late 2020 relating to the FBI’s controversial Crossfire Hurricane investigation into his 2016 campaign.

    The former president noted in two Truth Social posts that in October 2020, he wrote on his now-deleted Twitter account, “I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax,” adding, “Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”

    Trump on Thursday also made reference to a memorandum issued on Jan. 19, 2021—a day before President Joe Biden’s inauguration—to declassify “certain materials” relating to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which was launched in July 2016 to investigate claims of Russian interference in the election. Years later, special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that the investigation found no evidence showing Trump or his campaign coordinated with Moscow to sway the election.

    It was later revealed that Crossfire Hurricane was based partially on a series of notes and memos concocted by former UK spy Christopher Steele—known as the “Steele dossier”—while he was performing opposition research for a third party on behalf of the Clinton presidential campaign and Democrats. A number of allegations in his dossier have since been discredited by federal law enforcement officials.

    It’s not exactly clear why Trump posted about his memo to declassify some documents relating to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

    Both the Department of Justice and FBI have issued few comments about the raid since it was carried out, with Attorney General Merrick Garland confirming last week that he personally authorized seeking a warrant in the case.

    Last week, the judge who approved the FBI search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago unsealed the warrant and property receipt, showing agents recovered alleged classified and top-secret documents, although no information has been provided about them so far by either Trump’s team or the federal government.

    Lawyers for Trump and Republicans have called for the Justice Department’s affidavit seeking the FBI search warrant to be unsealed. The move would reveal the federal agency’s justification to carry out the raid and what FBI agents were searching for at Mar-a-Lago.

    Memo
    “I determined that the materials in [a Crossfire Hurricane] binder should be declassified to the maximum extent possible. In response, and as part of the iterative process of the declassification review, under a cover letter dated January 17, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation noted its continuing objection to any further declassification of the materials in the binder,” Trump wrote in January 2021.

    He then added at the time: “I hereby declassify the remaining materials in the binder. This is my final determination under the declassification review and I have directed the Attorney General to implement the redactions proposed in the FBI’s January 17 submission and return to the White House an appropriately redacted copy.”

    Months before that memo was issued, on Twitter, Trump wrote that “all Russia hoax scandal information” was declassified by him “long ago.”

    Also Thursday, Trump denied anonymously sourced claims that he is struggling to add lawyers to his team amid a legal battle with the Department of Justice and FBI following last week’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago property.
    Jack Phillips
    BREAKING NEWS REPORTER
    Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York.

    CFS: I have been looking for the UNREDACTED VERSION and cannot find it.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:04 PM

    Out Federal Government is too big a leech on society.

    It should be chopped in half in my opinion.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADxn7wWe9h0

    I defy you to name anything the feds do efficiently.
    Federal expenditure in peacetime should only be 10% of GDP…………as it was for hundreds of years in most societies.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:54 PM

    It’s an endless ponzi scheme. They must create more debt into existence and it’s just going to keep going until it implodes.

    Everything they do is dishonest. As long as everyone’s happy with their bubble assets, it’s going to continue.

    Of course, all these bubble assets is costing us our very lives and survival in the future. Real heavy price to pay. People have no problem with the corruption, as long as they’re lining their pockets with it. It’s a degenerate society with no core principal values and never mind… moral values. None of this would be taking place right now if people had better judgment however they don’t. They go along with all the lies and the corruption as long as they’re benefiting. It’s going to end real badly.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:56 PM
    Aug 18, 2022 18:01 PM

    IRS buys night vision goggles, military vehicles….Are YOU scared yet.?
    https://floridianpress.com/2022/08/bidens-militarized-irs-buys-up-night-vision-goggles-and-quick-reaction-gear/

    Aug 18, 2022 18:24 PM

    TRUMP SEARCH WARRANT:Warrant for ‘Contraband, Fruits of a Crime, or Other Items Illegally Possessed’ at Mar-a-Lago: Unsealed Document

    I am not an Attorney, but have represented myself pro se at a state Supreme Court level, and won, so I’m not ignorant of the law.
    It is incredible to me That Judge Bruce Reinhart did not laugh at the fishing expedition search warrant.

    It totally lacks the specificity required……Judge Rqinhart has bias, and should be removed from the bench for incompetency.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:07 PM

    You think Fauci is worth listening to?

    What a pathetically incompetent human, he is!
    UPDATED 2:15 PM PT – Thursday, August 18, 2022
    In a new report, the NIH Inspector General announced that the NIH did not ensure that the results of all of its clinical trials were reported in accordance with federal guidelines.
    The watchdog reviewed 72 clinical trials, that were funded by the NIG, that took place in 2019 and 2020. There, it discovered that only 35-trials had their results submitted on time. 12 trials failed to meet reporting deadlines and 25-trials never submitted results at all.
    The Inspector General added that the NIH only took ‘limited’ enforcement action against labs that didn’t submit results and that they continued to fund their new projects.
    On top of that the highest paid federal employee authorised payments for research, specifically banned by the U.S. government.
    IMPEACH Fauci

    Aug 18, 2022 18:30 PM

    I AGREE, DeSantis is a much better candidate. If you disagree, I think you’re greatly mistaken.

    News clip today

    Alex Jones is jumping off the Trump train and hopping aboard the Ron DeSantis bandwagon.

    The Infowars host explained he “pigheadedly” backed former President Donald Trump due to fears of a Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden presidency but has now marveled at how Florida’s Republican governor has become “unbelievably good” during his reign over the Sunshine State and believes he is the better man to be the GOP standard-bearer in 2024.

    Aug 18, 2022 18:33 PM

    New home buyers are on strike and gone

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWniWTPxHbw

    Will 2023 & 24 be, when all the chickens come home to roost ?

    Or is it really different this time. LOL

    Maybe, however the odds are significantly against it.

    It’s a dice roll🎲

    Gamblers always lose most of the time.

    From equity to insolvency and now in receivership BK

    Foreclosed on and now please hand over the keys😭

    This is the American dream. LOL

      Aug 18, 2022 18:08 PM

      Sadly, during this time many will be selling their precious metals. All these stackers that were hoping that things were going to be lucrative in the future and many mining companies will be going bust. From $5 a share to zero in 60 seconds. LOL

      Does not look good because all this debt needs to be unwound and leverage and we haven’t even started yet. The liquidation phase.

      Once the liquidation phase gets started, then precious metals will start to move. We’re not even in the first inning yet.

      This is the likely scenario above.

      And, if a devastating world war breaks out, precious metals prices will completely collapse after the initial pop.

      However, the gold rookies and traders will tell you otherwise. Maybe, but the odds are significantly against it.

      Aug 19, 2022 19:17 AM

      You WILL Eat the Bugs: Major Brands Quietly Slipping Insects Into Your Food

      https://www.newswars.com/you-will-eat-the-bugs-major-brands-quietly-slipping-insects-into-your-food/

        Aug 19, 2022 19:42 AM

        this is actually crazy Ed…i mean, lets share a bag of cricket remains?….makes reading those ingredient list a whole different game…

          Aug 19, 2022 19:15 AM

          They could just rename the junk foods…e.g. from Cheetos to Critters. 🙂 …truth in advertising…

          Aug 19, 2022 19:29 AM

          Larry, it’s only a matter of time…turd burger to go with your cricket puffs…

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDvSPQ7megQ

    Aug 19, 2022 19:57 AM

    Regretfully, there’s many individuals where their conscious is seared with a hot iron.

    This can be interpreted in few different ways however their conscience is rendered disabled.

    They acknowledge the mistakes that society is making as the contributing factor and then turn around playing right back into it and further assisting in the decay of our society.

    At the same time, voicing their concerns and complaining regarding our society decaying and degrading in so many different areas.

    These same individuals, no matter how highly educated, these are all characteristics of an imbecile with a dysfunctional conscience.

    They are dysfunctional people and need to be avoided at all costs. Another way to put it, they are mixed up like a toss fruit salad and make for poor relations with conversations that are as mixed up as they are.

    Aug 19, 2022 19:33 PM

    Traitor Joe Biden talks to Globalist George Soros about denationalization and socialism……

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1560484776259338240

    Aug 19, 2022 19:45 PM

    We’ll, as of today my market call shorting junior miners to decline from the Wednesday night’s blog is working out beautifully. Although, it was 85% in odds, was acceptable in a good risk reward trade. Normally though, capitalizing on 95% odds is most preferred.

    All depends on the close, the short position is in a 4% profit. Looks very likely the short position will continue to produce profits over the next several days or week.

    This is on the index gdxj and some of the individual Junior miners are faring far worse right now. With at least double the percentages on the downside.

    Never been off on a market call yet. With short-term trades. All have been 100% winners, every single one of them.

    The analysis in the trade was all fully explained on Wednesdays night’s blog. Very easy to understand and no ABC with this line crossing that line and a chart. Rookies LOL

    Aug 19, 2022 19:33 PM

    Here’s what’s really hilarious and asinine.

    We have contributors in the gold space who are almost consistently wrong on a regular basis.

    They’re too busy appeasing others and being appeased.

    For being wrong too LOL .

    Novices and very inexperienced. Unknowledgeable in many cases and never trade either.

    Just in here for the thank you’s and the butt slaps because they’re so incompetent. They’re so demoralized because of their financial miscalculations and losses.

    These people are their own worst enemies and can’t get out of their own way.

    Ha Ha .. a good bunch to hang out with if you want to lose a lot of money.

    End up a serf. LOL

    Aug 19, 2022 19:58 PM

    Sade to see your still looking TV Trump nerative news ! US Senate passes $ 430 billion anti-inflation Bill your Dead Boys !

    Aug 19, 2022 19:21 PM

    California Housing Market Pukes: As Sales Collapse. Prices Begin to Swoon.

    As California goes, so does the rest of the nation.

    🏘️🔨 -50% 2023

    Sold at auction -75% 2024 🏘️🔨🔨

    Aug 19, 2022 19:20 PM

    The boat industry. HAMMERED as much as 50% off.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbO9pw42AKM

    The everything bubble is collapsing.

    Dreamers can dream, although you’ll be on the boulevard of broken dreams.

    And precious metals LOL we’re not even in the first phase/inning of the liquidation of this stratospheric everything bubble.

    Is anyone here today ?👂

    Aug 19, 2022 19:01 PM

    Welcome, dear boyz, to the USA political end game. WELCOME BACK TO OFFICE PRESIDENT TRUMP! As always, no time to lose