Previously Obscured Sections of Search Warrant Application Revealed in Trump Investigation

On Wednesday, the Justice Department unveiled parts of a search warrant application previously obscured, which was filed last year in order to authorize a search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence for classified documents.

Although key segments of the document were already public, several media outlets, including The Big Big News, sought further unveiling of the application following a 38-count indictment last month. This indictment charged Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, with concealing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago from investigators. While Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart did not demand the Justice Department to reveal the entire search warrant affidavit, he did instruct prosecutors to submit a less-redacted affidavit for public viewing.

The disclosed sections provide an account of surveillance footage from inside the residence, showing the movement of numerous boxes in the days preceding the FBI and Justice Department investigators’ visit to collect records. On the June 3, 2022, visit, authorities were given an envelope containing 38 classified documents, and were assured that all subpoenaed records were being provided, following a “diligent search” of the property.

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Details of the box movements by Nauta were outlined in the previous month’s indictment, but its mention in the search warrant affidavit provides insight into the Justice Department’s reasoning for believing it had reasonable grounds to search Trump’s residence on Aug. 8, 2022. It also sheds light on the investigators’ worries about potential deliberate document concealment.

The affidavit describes a person referred to as “Witness 5”, seen frequently transporting either cardboard or bankers’ boxes in and out of a waiting room. Nauta is not named in the affidavit, but the timeline of the movements, along with the timing of an FBI interview focused on the location of boxes, corresponds with the dates specified in the indictment.

Nauta’s arraignment in a Miami federal court is scheduled for Thursday. Trump has already entered a not guilty plea to over thirty felony charges, many of which allege intentional retention of national defense information.

For more updates, follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.etucker/AP.

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