Live updates: Mar-a-Lago FBI search warrant hearing | CNN Politics (2024)

A US magistrate judge started the process of potentially releasing some information from the affidavit that the Justice Department used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

Judge Bruce Reinhart said during a hearing at the West Palm Beach courthouse that he was planning to unseal portions of the affidavit, which is sought by various media outlets and other organizations.

His announcement came after the Justice Department, while arguing against the disclosure of the documents, revealed new, if not extremely vague, details about the investigation into the handling of classified documents from the Trump White House.

Here are some key takeaways from the hearing:

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart held a hearing on Thursday in Florida to discuss requests to unseal investigators’ probable cause affidavit, which the Justice Departmenthas opposed releasing.

Jay Bratt, a top lawyer in the Department of Justice’s national security division, argued that letting the public read the affidavit would “provide a roadmap to the investigation,” and would even indicate the next steps in the probe. He emphasized that this is an active, ongoing criminal investigation.

There are no cameras allowed during federal proceedings, but artist Bill Hennessy’s sketches provide a glimpse of the events.

Here’s what it looked like inside the courtroom:

Jay Bratt, a lawyer for the Department of Justice's national security division, stands before Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday.

US MagistrateJudgeBruceReinhart presides over the hearing.

Chuck Tobin stands before Judge Bruce Reinhart.

Former President Donald Trump and his team have continued to publicly push for the release of the full affidavit used to justify the search warrant of his Mar-a-Lago home, saying there should be no redactions “in the interest of TRANSPARENCY.”

But they have not made that argument in court – at least not yet.

Despite Trump lawyer Christina Bobbbeing in court on Thursday, the former president’s team did not enter submit any formal motion making that stance clear. Instead, she was just there to monitor the hearing.

A source familiar with the discussions told CNN that submitting a formal motion remains a possibility, but the legal team has not made a final decision about doing so yet. Some in Trump’s orbit were surprised that the judge asked the Justice Department to propose redactions and arguments for them, instead of simply keeping the sensitive document sealed.

As prosecutors now have until next Thursday to submit those possible redactions, Trump is continuing his hunt for an addition to his legal team. The former president isseeking to bring on an attorney with experiencein Florida law and has had multiple conversations about candidates in recent days, according to a source.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday releasedseveralprocedural court documents related to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home of Mar-a-Lago.

The newly released filings provide more specificity on the potential offenses being investigated by the Justice Department — describing the offenses as the “willful retention of national defense information” as well as the “concealment or removal of government records” and “obstruction of federal investigation.”

In the filings, prosecutors also argued that the search warrant paperwork before the Mar-a-Lago search last Monday needed to be keep secret, “because the integrity of the ongoing investigation might be compromised, and evidence might be destroyed.”

The filingsincludethe Department of Justice’s motion to seal the warrant documents, the order granting that sealing request and the criminal cover sheet.

The cover sheet also specifies that the Justice Department applied to search Mar-a-Lago, believing they could find both evidence of these crimes and get back illegally possessed items.

Note:This is not the search warrant affidavit, which would include more details. The judge plans to hear more from the Justice Department by next week about how extensively investigators want to keep confidential the document that describes their investigative steps and methods leading to the need for the search.

Deanna Shullman speaks to members of the media outside the federal court in West Palm Beach on Thursday, August 18.

An attorney who is part of the group of lawyers representing a coalition of media companies — including CNN — seeking the release of a heavily redacted version of the affidavit for the search at Mar-a-Lago said the public has a right to see as much of the document as possible.

Shullman also said she understands the government’s desire to keep certain elements of the affidavit shielded from public view, but she said there is a way to accomplish that without a wide-ranging redaction of the document.

“None of the media intervenors want to jeopardize the safety or security of a confidential informant; it is very common in these situations that information that would lead to the disclosure of their identity is kept secret,” she said.“However, it is important to note that simply saying somebody works for a particular agency is not sufficient.Perhaps saying their title, their post, the number of years they have been in position and other identifiers may get us there, but the generic fact that there are confidential informants working with the government is not something that I would think is subject to protection.”

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhartset in motion on Thursday the possible public release of the document at today’s hearing.

The judge plans to hear more from the Justice Department by next week about how extensively investigators want to keep confidential the document that describes their investigative steps and methods leading to the need for the search.

US MagistrateJudgeBruceReinhartset in motionon Thursdaythepossiblepublic release of a heavily redacted version of the affidavit for the search at Mar-a-Lago.

The judge plans to hear more from the Justice Department by next week about how extensively investigators want to keep confidential the document that describes their investigative steps and methods leading to the need for the search.

Reinhart said he wasn’t convinced yet that the entire affidavit should remain undisclosed to the public.

Prosecutors will have the opportunity to propose redactions and explain why each piece of information needs to be kept from the public eye, Reinhart said. Those proposals will be due next Thursday.

Reinhart said he then may have additional confidential discussions with the Justice Department before making his decisions on transparency.

Earlier on Thursday, Reinhart said he would unseal some other, procedural filings that are currently under seal on the search warrant docket.

According to the judge’s comments, the filings are the Department of Justice’s motion to seal the warrant documents, the order granting that sealing request and the criminal cover sheet.

Jay Bratt, a top lawyer in the Department of Justice’s national security division, raised concerns about the risks the FBI has faced since the news of the Mar-a-Lago search broke, with Bratt mentioning the recent standoff at a Cincinnati FBI field office and “amateur sleuths” on the internet.

He told the judge that if any of the other documents are released, the DOJ would want to redact even background information about the agents who have worked on the matter so far.

Bratt also laid out DOJ’s concerns that releasing the affidavit would having a chilling effect on future witnesses. He said during the hearing that several witnesses are already part of the investigation, some with very specific relevant information that — if revealed — would reveal who they are.

An aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on August 15.

The Justice Department argued in court on Thursday that the probable cause affidavit used to get a warrant to search former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence described how prosecutors might find “evidence of obstruction” on the grounds of the Florida property — a possible crime that the search warrant itself revealed was under investigation.

Obstruction of justice was one of the three statutes listed on the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, which was unsealed last week, and Judge Bruce Reinhart said during the hearing Thursday that he “found there is probable cause” that the statutes had been violated.

Bratt made the comments about obstruction being investigated while he was trying to highlight DOJ’s fear that future witnesses may not be willing to provide information if too much was to come out about the investigation so far.

Bratt also said that the affidavit contained “substantial grand jury information.”

CNN has reported that the FBI search came months after federal investigators served grand jury subpoena and took away sensitive national security documents from Trump’s property during a June meeting.

Jay Bratt, a top lawyer in the Department of Justice’s national security division, is arguing for the government at the hearing on requests by several news outlets — including CNN — to unseal more materials filed by the Justice Department related to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.

Bratt told the federal judge that letting the public read the affidavit would “provide a roadmap to the investigation,” and would even indicate the next steps in the probe.

He also described the affidavit as detailed and lengthy.

While acknowledging that there is a public interest in transparency, Bratt said that there was “another public interest” in criminal investigations being able to go forward unimpeded.

Bratt’s statements in court have so far emphasized that this is an active, ongoing criminal investigation, with robust witness interview work being done and grand jury activity.

US MagistrateJudgeBruceReinhart says he will unseal some of the procedural filings that are currently under seal on the search warrant docket.

According to the judge’s comments, the filings are the Department of Justice’s motion to seal the warrant documents, the order granting that sealing request and the criminal cover sheet.

The Paul G. Rogers federal building and courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, on August 18.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the federal judge who approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, is hold a hearing now at the court in Florida to discuss requests to unseal investigators’ probable cause affidavit, which the Justice Departmenthas opposed releasing.

Media organizations,including CNN, asked for the affidavit to be unsealed after the search last week at former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, club and residence.

Cameras are not allowed inside the federal courtroom, but CNN is there and will be providing updates on key moments from the hearing.

Trump attorney Christina Bobb said she plans to observe the court hearing on Thursday where a federal magistrate judge will consider requests to unseal the affidavit used by the Justice Department to justify searching the former President’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

Bobb was spotted by CNN entering the courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Interested parties, which would include Trump, had until 9 a.m. ET Thursday to file on their positions on the secrecy of the affidavit. Neither Trump nor his attorneys filed anything this morning, but Bobb could speak to the court if requested.

CNN and other media outlets have asked the judge to unseal the search warrant affidavit. The Justice Department opposes unsealing the documents, saying that would compromise the investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office and alleged obstruction.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

An extraordinary dispute will play out in a federal courthouse in South Florida on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET over what transparency the American public is owed into the Justice Department investigation of the handlingof classified documentsfrom former President Donald Trump’s White House.

Here are key things to watch for during today’s hearing:

How does the DOJ describe the risks disclosing the documents poses to its investigation?

The Justice Department said in its filing that its investigation would be “irreparably” harmed if the additional materials are unsealed.

It pointed specifically to the threat that disclosure of information about FBI witnesses would “chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations.”

The Justice Department may seek to emphasize those points in a way that gives more of a picture of where the probe stands.

How does DOJ describe the national security risks of unsealing the documents?

As the Justice Department put forward in its filing, this investigation is not just any criminal probe but one that “that implicates national security.”

Thursday’s hearing could give some hints about why the department sought to execute the search when it did.

CNN and The New York Times have reported how a series of investigative steps and efforts to secure material marked as classifiedplayed out over several months before the search. The National Archives had first requested and got back into its possession15 boxes in January– with some materials labeled with a classification level – prompting the agency to call for a criminal investigation. The Justice Department then looked into the matter, with major investigative steps taken, especially in June. Investigatorsvisited the beach club, saw where records were being kept, asked the Trump team to secure them andissued a subpoena to havethem returned to federal hands. The Trump Organization also provided investigators access to surveillance videos in response to another subpoena. That led investigators to spot something on the video around a storage room that concerned them,the Times has reported.

Police direct traffic outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8.

CNN, joined by The Washington Post, NBC News and Scripps, asked a court last week to unseal documents connected tothe FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence — including documents not covered by the Justice Department’sown bid to unseal a selectionof the warrant materials.

Specifically, CNN and the other outlets are asking for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to unseal the entire record filed with the court, including all probable cause affidavits filed in support of the search warrant. These lay out why investigators believe that there is probable cause that a crime was committed and the evidence of that crime existed in recent days at the site where the search was sought.

Therequest was filedafter the Justice Department submitted its own request with the federal court to unseal certain warrant materials. In remarks announcing the request, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is seeking the release of the “search warrant and property receipt” from the FBI’s search.

In the unsealing filing by CNN and the other outlets with the court, they pointed to “the historic importance of these events.”

“Before the events of this week, not since the Nixon Administration had the federal government wielded its power to seize records from a former President in such a public fashion,” the outlets said in the filing.

The filing said that “tremendous public interest in these records in particular outweighs any purported interest in keeping them secret.”

“The Media Intervenors certainly do not seek these records for any illegitimate purpose,” the outlets said. “To the contrary, public access to these records will promote public understanding of this historically significant, unprecedented execution of a search warrant in the residence of a former President.”

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to meet with New York Attorney General Letitia James on August 10.

Former President Donald Trump has created a unique gravitational pull for lawsuits and investigations that often hit the people in his orbit but have not yet landed on him.

Now there’s a burst ofactivity from the authorities circling around him — federal, state, city and county prosecutors — who are all considering ways to hold him accountable for:

Unless you’ve been on Mars for the summer, you know that his Florida home was searched by the FBI forpossible mishandling of classified documents.

But there are so many more cases that touch Trump.

Consider the recent developments regarding his business dealings:

The same week Trump’s Floridahome was searched by the FBI, the former President was under oath in New York.

Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election have sparked their own subset of legal issues, one of which was on major display Wednesday in Atlanta.

Those developments are on top of what we learned earlier this month.

A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. Read the full story here and subscribe to the newsletterhere.

An aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate seen on August 10.

Revealingan airstrikeover “beautiful” chocolate cake. Atrespasser from Chinacarrying flash drives and electronics. Cellphone photos of the“nuclear football” briefcase.And now, classified documents recovered during an FBI search.

Mar-a-Lago, the stone-walled oceanfront estate Donald Trumplabeledthe “Winter White House,” has long been a source of headaches for national security and intelligence professionals. Its clubby atmosphere, sprawling guest-list and talkative proprietor combined into a “nightmare” for keeping the government’s most closely held secrets, one former intelligence official said.

Now, the 114-room mansion and its various outbuildings are at the center of a Justice Department investigation into Trump’s handling of presidential material. After an hours-long search of the property last week, FBI agents seized 11 sets of documents, some marked as “sensitive compartmented information” — among the highest levels of government secrets. CNNreportedSaturday that one of Trump’s attorneys claimed in June that no classified material remained at the club — raising fresh questions about the number of people who have legal exposure in the ongoing investigation.

In many ways, Trump’s 20-acre compound in Palm Beach, Florida, amounts to the physical embodiment of what some former aides describe as a haphazard-at-best approach by the former President toclassified documents and information.

“Mar-a-Lago has been a porous place ever since Trump declared his candidacy and started winning primaries several years ago,” said Aki Peritz, a former CIA counterterrorism analyst. “If you were any intelligence service, friendly or unfriendly, worth their salt, they would be concentrating their efforts on this incredibly porous place.”

Continue reading here.

Allen Weisselberg arrives in court in New York on Thursday, August 18.

In another investigation related to former President Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme and as part of the deal he has agreed to testify against former Trump’s real estate company at trial.

In court Thursday, Weisselberg said “yes, your honor” when asked if he was pleading guilty of his own choice.

Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies and admittedhe failed to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including luxury perks, such as rent and utilities for a Manhattan apartment, leases for a pair of Mercedes-Benz cars, and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

He admitted to concealing those benefits from his accountant to underreport his income and knowingly omitted the income from his personal tax returns.

Weisselberg answered a series of specific questions about the scheme from the judge in a hushed and barely audible tone, saying “yes, your honor” repeatedly.

As part of the deal, he will pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and waive any right to appeal.

Allen Weisselberg enters the courtroom on August 18 in New York.

Judge Juan Merchan said Weisselberg would be sentenced after the Trump Organization’s trial. He said the agreement was fora five-month sentence to be followed by five years of probation. The judge warned Weisselberg if he does not meet all the conditions of the plea agreement, “I would be at liberty to impose any lawful sentence which in your case includes imprisonment from 5 to 15 years.”

The plea puts him at odds with the Trump Organization, where he has worked for 40 years, and his testimony could damage the company, if it goes to trial on related tax charges as scheduled in October.

Former President Donald Trump raises his fist while walking to a vehicle outside of Trump Tower in New York on August 10.

Former President Donald Trumpis reportedlynearing a decisionon when to announce a 2024 bid to return to the White House, but his legal troubles continue to build — not just with theFBI search at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

Multiple federal and state investigations are ongoing regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, his handling of confidential documents and his family business. Civil lawsuits accusing Trump of defamation and spurring on US Capitol rioters also remain on the docket.

Aside from the the investigation into Trump’s handling of White House documents, here’s an list of other notable investigations and lawsuits he is facing:

Jan. 6 and overturning the election: House select committee and Justice Department

The House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack has uncovered dramatic evidence of Trump’s actions before and on Jan. 6, especially efforts to use the levers of government to overturn the election.

The Justice Department is watching —and has an investigation of its own — so while there’s an outstanding question if the committee will recommend any charges for DOJ, it’s not a requirement for the feds to act if the committee does make a referral.

2020 election: Efforts to overturn Georgia results

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is overseeing a special grand jury investigating what Trump or his allies may have done in their efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.

Willis, a Democrat, has informed all16 of the individuals who signed an “unofficial electoral certificate,”which was ultimately sent to the National Archives in late 2020, that they may be indicted in the probe.

Trump Organization: New York Attorney General criminal and civil investigation

Trump this weektook the Fifthat his deposition in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation of his namesake business in response to hundreds of questions.

The investigation is nearing the end and James’ office said it needed to question the Trump family to determine who had responsibility for the financial statements at the center of the investigation.Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trumpalso recently were deposed and did answer questions. Eric Trump was questioned in 2020 and declined to answer more than 500 questions.

search of former PresidentDonald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last week, documents show, was an evidence-gathering step in a national security investigation about the mishandling of classified documents. Trump owns the sprawling estate, and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort.

Here’sa timelineof the search warrant’s execution and release:

More background: TheJustice Department inquiryis about documents that Trump removed from the White House as his term was ending in January 2021.

Earlier this year, officials from the National Archives and Records Administration, known as NARA, recovered 15 boxes of presidential documents from Mar-a-Lago. This came after months of discussions with Trump’s team.

On Feb. 18, 2022, theNARAinformed the Justice Departmentthat some of the documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago included classified material. NARA also tells the department that, despite being warned it was illegal, Trump tore up documents while he was President, and that senior officials in the Trump administration did not properly preserve their social media messages, draft tweets and deleted tweets.

In April and May of 2022, the NARA publicly acknowledgesfor the first time that the Justice Department is involved, and news outlets report that prosecutors have launched a criminal probe into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents. Investigators also subpoenaed the NARA for access to the classified documents.

About two months before executing the search warrant, on June 8, 2022,Trump’s attorneysreceive a letterfrom federal investigators, asking them to further secure the room where documents are being stored. In response, Trump aides add a padlock to the room in the basem*nt of Mar-a-Lago.

The US government has a formal system of protecting information that, if disclosed, could hurt national security.

The system can apply to documents regarding intelligence activities, foreign relations, military plans and programs for safeguarding nuclear materials, for example.By classifying information, the government restricts who can see the documents and where he or she can see them.

The Justice Department recentlyremoved some classified documentsfrom former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence while executing a search warrant for possible violations of the Espionage Act and other crimes.

There are three basic levels of classification, based on the damage that could be done to national security if the information was leaked:

Top Secret:This is the highest level of classification. Information is classified as Top Secret if it “reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security,” according to a 2009executive orderthat describes the classification system.

A subset of Top Secret documents known as SCI, orsensitive compartmentedinformation, is reserved for certain information derived from intelligence sources. Access to an SCI document can be even further restricted to a smaller group of people with specific security clearances.

Some of the materials recovered from Trump’s Florida home were marked as Top Secret SCI.

Secret:Information is classified as Secret if the information is deemed to be able to cause “serious damage” to national security if revealed.

Confidential:Confidential is the least sensitive level of classification, applied to information that is reasonably expected to cause “damage” to national security if disclosed.

The Secret Service stand at the gate of Mar-a-Lago after the FBI executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 8.

Some allies of former President Donald Trump are urging him to publicly release surveillance footage of FBI agents executing a searchwarrant on his Mar-a-Lago residence, a proposal that has drawn mixed reaction inside his orbit, CNN has learned.

The CCTV footage has been so closely held that aides to the former President aren’t sure if he has seen it in full himself, said a person close to Trump.

“I don’t think it’s been shared by anyone outside of the attorneys,” this person said.

Yet when asked earlier this week by Fox’s Sean Hannity whether the footage would be released, Trump’s son Eric said, “Absolutely Sean, at the right time. “

Some of Trump’s aides and allies have encouraged the former President to make some of the footage available to the public, believing it could send a jolt of energy through the Republican Party’s base. One person familiar with the conversations said there have been discussions about featuring the August footage in campaign-style ads, believing the footage could bolster Trump’s claims of political persecution.

Another person close to Trump said it’s not a matter of if the former President and his team release any of the footage, but when, noting it could be released before he makes a campaign announcement.

Others in Trump’s orbit have warned of the potential risks to the former President if he does release the tapes. A second person close to Trump cautioned that releasing the footage could backfire by providing people with a visual understanding of thesheer volume of materialsthat federal agents seized from his oceanfront residence, including classified materials.

Keep reading.

The federal magistrate judge who approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant will hold a hearing Thursday at 1 p.m. ET in a Florida court to discuss requests to unseal investigators’ probable cause affidavit, which the Justice Departmenthas opposed releasing.

A federal judge on Fridayunsealed the search warrant and property receiptfrom the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, a move the Justice Department backed, but on Monday, the DOJ said it opposed releasing the affidavit specifically in an effort to protect witnesses and keep grand jury proceedings confidential.

Media organizations,including CNN, had asked for the affidavit to be unsealed after the search last week at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, club and residence.

The announcement of Thursday’s hearing came hours before two people briefed on the matter said told CNN that the FBI interviewed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his former deputy Patrick Philbin earlier this year as part of the investigation into federal records taken to Trump’s Palm Beach home.

The two are the most senior former Trump officials interviewed in what is now a criminal investigation of possible mishandling of classified information and obstruction. The pair are among a group of former Trump aides whom the FBI interviewed after the criminal probe got underway this spring, the people briefed on the matter said.

A federal judge last week unsealed the search warrant and property receiptfrom the FBI search of former PresidentDonald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The search, documents show, was an evidence-gathering step in a national security investigation about the mishandling of classified documents. Trump owns the sprawling estate, and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort.

The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from its search, including some materials marked as “top secret/SCI” — one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents from the search warrant that were released.

Here are some key things we learned from the unsealed documents:

Crimes identified in the warrant:The search warrant identifies three federal crimes that the Justice Department is looking at as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records.

The inclusion of the crimes indicates the Justice Department has probable cause to investigate those offenses as it was gathering evidence in the search, but no one has been charged.

The receipt for property that was seized during the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

What the FBI recovered:One of the newly unsealed documents is a search warrant “receipt” listing the items that the FBI collected from Mar-a-Lago. That document reveals FBI agents removed more than 20 boxes from Trump’s resort and residence in Palm Beach, as well as binders of photos, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note.

According to the search warrant receipt, federal agents seized:

Areas authorized for search:The court documents also offer new details about the search itself and revealed that FBI agents were only allowed access to specific locations within Mar-a-Lago as they combed Trump’s resort residence for potential evidence of crimes.

The judge authorized the FBI to search what the bureau called the “45 Office,” as well as “all other rooms or areas” at Mar-a-Lago that were available to Trump and his staff for storing boxes and documents. The FBI’s warrant application to the judge specifically said that federal agents would avoid areas being rented or used by third parties, “such as Mar-a-Lago members” and “private guest suites.”

Read more about what is in the search warranthere.