Judge orders publication of Trump's sworn statement with revisions

Judge orders publication of Trump's sworn statement with revisions

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the affidavit that was used to justify the search warrant at former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence open by Friday noon ET with the government's revision.

The judge said the government had fulfilled its obligations to justify the revisions. Several media organizations, including CBS News, pushed for the affidavit's release. Trump has also publicly called for the release of the testimony, even though his attorneys did not enter court proceedings as interested parties.

The Department of Justice submitted its revised version to the court. The affidavit will likely contain more information about government investigators' concerns regarding the alleged documents in Mar-a-Lago.

The FBI searched Trump's primary Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8 to investigate his handling of presidential records since leaving office. On August 12, the search warrant was revealed, along with an inventory of the confiscated materials, which included 11 sets of classified documents.

Earlier this week, Trump and his lawyers filed a request before a different judge to nominate a special master to review documents from Mar-a-Lago. They argued that the Special Master - a court-appointed observer - was necessary to protect the constitutional rights of the former president.

Trump's lawyers also asked the Justice Department to provide them with more detailed information on what the FBI took from his Florida resort and to return any property, not within the scope of the search warrant.

In January, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) received 15 boxes of Presidential Materials from Mar-a-Lago. NARA has identified more than 100 documents with hashtags — including some marked as top-secret and protected by sensitive private access programs — after its initial review of these funds, according to a May letter sent by the acting archivist to a lawyer for the former president.

 The National Archives asked the Ministry of Justice to look into the matter.

A US official told CBS News earlier this week that investigators are looking closely at video evidence that shows people arriving at the Trump residence area where he kept papers - including classified material.

Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant and then Federal District Judge Bruce Reinhart on August 5. Reinhart reviewed the affidavit and its references to evidence from the investigations, saying last week that "all the information the court relied on was the affidavit."

The Department of Justice argued that the affidavit should remain sealed, citing the need to "protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security." Prosecutors told the judge that investigative methods and the identities of FBI agents and witnesses were at risk and said the release of the affidavit threatened future cooperation.

Media organizations have argued that disclosing at least parts of the affidavit is necessary to help the public understand the Department of Justice's reasons for looking.