NEW: A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release a redacted version of the affidavit justifying the Mar-a-Lago search by Friday at noon.
and told federal officials to submit to him in private the redactions it wanted to make. Even so, he acknowledged that the blacked-out portions might be so extensive as to leave the public version of the document without any meaningful information.
Multiple news media organizations, including The Associated Press, argued in court last week for the disclosure of the affidavit, citing the extraordinary public interest in the federal search of a former president's home. Trump and some of his supporters have also encouraged the document's release. After the Justice Department submitted its filing under seal on Thursday, the media coalition responded by asking the judge to unseal portions of the department's brief and to direct the government, “going forward," to file publicly a redacted version of any sealed document it submits. The groups noted that significant information about the investigation is already public.
“At a minimum, any portions of the Brief that recite those facts about the investigation, without revealing additional ones not yet publicly available — in addition to any other portions that pose no threat to the investigation — should be unsealed,” the news organizations wrote. They added, “If and when additional facts come to light and are confirmed to be accurate, or certain facts no longer pose a threat to the investigation for any other reason, there is no justification for maintaining them under seal either.”Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS.
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