(LifeSiteNews) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the FBI to release the search warrant affidavit used in the August 8 raid on former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Florida home. The move comes after Trump filed a separate lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday in a bid to obtain an inventory and audit of the items taken during the unprecedented raid.
Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the release of a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit by 12 p.m. Friday.
In the order, Reinhart said the federal government must release the affidavit but explained it “has met its burden of showing a compelling reason/good cause” to redact parts of the document that “would reveal the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties, the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods, and grand jury information.”
Judge Reinhart had previously signed off on the search warrant itself, and later ordered the document be unsealed after a DOJ filing.
BREAKING: Judge orders release of redacted Mar-a-Lago search warrant by Friday noon https://t.co/S25mWvanlS
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 25, 2022
RELATED: Trump investigated under Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, unsealed FBI raid warrant shows
USA Today reported that since prosecutors have not released details regarding the documents and items seized by federal officials during the raid, “[t]he affidavit could shed light on what FBI agents were looking for and why.”
However, it’s unclear how much relevant information will remain in the released affidavit after the redactions.
Reinhart himself had previously warned that censorship of key details would render release of the affidavit “meaningless,” The Hill reported.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially crossed a line by weaponizing the FBI to target America’s most influential conservative leader — former president Donald Trump, a private citizen — without due process and with obvious political bias.
SIGN this petition to FBI Director Christopher Wray - condemn this blatant political policing againt former President Trump.
This single act has sent an unmistakable signal that anyone who holds a dissenting political belief from the leftist regime can have his or her life ruined by the Deep State — forcing them to defend themselves from a faceless FBI attack-arm of the federal government.
The FBI just proved that Donald Trump was right. He’s always been right.
— Benny Johnson 🍊 (@bennyjohnson) August 9, 2022
No one will ever forget this.
We cannot stand for the complete corruption and weaponization of America's law enforcement, and especially not the FBI. We must stand united, bold, and patriotic — in the name of liberty, the rule of law, and American Greatness.
SEND A BOLD MESSAGE TODAY: WE ABSOLUTELY CONDEMN THE DESPICABLE FBI RAID ON A PRIVATE AMERICAN CITIZEN — AND WE WILL NOT STOP FIGHTING FOR AMERICA FIRST!
This kind of weaponization of federal agencies against private citizens who hold a dissenting worldview is seen only in third-world countries.
This is exactly why Americans must use their voices and shout even more loudly that this country is worth saving from the ideologues on the radical left who care only about power and control.
We won’t know how fully insane the FBI raid on Trump is until we see the warrant and warrant application. But after Russiagate – years of investigation predicated largely on Clinton campaign misinformation -- if the basis for this isn’t bedrock-solid, there should be hell to pay.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 9, 2022
Destroying 30K classified emails with a hammer and bleach doesn’t get your home searched. Remember that.
— Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) August 9, 2022
American patriots will continue standing in the way of the left's attempt at hostile takeover, and will always defend America from her enemies — both foreign and domestic.
SIGN NOW: Our Founding Fathers added their names to the Declaration of Independence, and now more than ever is it important to add your name to the growing list of patriots who uphold our inalienable rights and the promise of self-government.
The @FBI raid on President Trump was approved by Director Wray, who also claimed that the illegal FISA warrants used to spy on Trump were constitutional.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 9, 2022
Today’s raid is outrageous and unjust, but predictable.
Stand up against the targeting of private American citizens from FBI raids - we refuse to back down!
Thank you.
P.S. — Nobody is safe from politically motivated attacks under the current DOJ. And with 87,000 new IRS agents joining the executive branch, the unaccountable federal government is only growing. Now is the time to push back before it’s too late! SIGN NOW AND STAND STRONG TOGETHER!
After todays raid on Mar A Lago what do you think the left plans to use those 87,000 new IRS agents for?
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 9, 2022
“I cannot say at this point that partial redactions will be so extensive that they will result in a meaningless disclosure, but I may ultimately reach that conclusion after hearing further from the government,” he wrote Monday.
DOJ National Security Division official Jay Bratt reportedly told Reinhart the affidavit would need to be so heavily edited that it wouldn’t “edify the public in any meaningful way,” USA Today reported.
The decision to release a version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit, albeit an edited one, comes after Trump filed a separate lawsuit against the DOJ earlier this week.
In the lawsuit, titled Trump v. United States Government, the former president requested a full inventory and audit of those items taken from Mar-o-Lago during the FBI raid.
“To date, the government has failed to legitimize its historic decision to raid the home of a President who had been fully cooperative,” the lawsuit states.
“Law enforcement is a shield that protects Americans,” the lawsuit continues. “It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes. Therefore, we seek judicial assistance in the aftermath of an unprecedented and unnecessary raid on President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.”
RELATED: Trump tells Fox News US is in ‘very dangerous’ place following FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago residence
In a statement released after the filing of his lawsuit, Trump said the “Mar-a-Lago Break-In, Search, and Seizure was illegal and unconstitutional,” and hinted at a future presidential run.
The former president said his team is “taking all actions necessary to get the documents back, which we would have given to them without the necessity of the despicable raid on my home, so that I can give them to the National Archives until they are required for the future Donald J. Trump Presidential Library and Museum.”