US judge orders release of redacted affidavit on Trump Florida home raid
A redacted version of the court papers that allowed the FBI to raid Donald Trump’s Florida home will be released to the public.
A US judge gave the orders that investigators must make a redacted version of the affidavit available for the public – which may shine new light about the FBI’s search and the ongoing investigation into Trump’s handling of documents.
It has been reported that the former president had classified documents removed from his Florida home – records and documents that should never have left the White House. It has been said the president took the files with him when he left office, and many speculate what it was he intended to do with the information.
US presidents are required to transfer documents and emails to the National Archives when they leave office.
The Department of Justice was very much against the idea of releasing an uncensored version as they argued it could interfere with their ongoing investigation.
The redacted version of the affidavit will be released by 17:00 BST on Friday.
The judge accepted that prosecutors had demonstrated a “compelling reason” to black out parts of the document, which would reveal the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents and uncharged parties.
It is hoped that even in its redacted version, that the affidavit could shed some more light on why Trump allegedly took classified documents with him when he left office and what he did with them stored at his Florida home.