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U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to redact the affidavit that was used to obtain the FBI’s search warrant for its raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and said he would release at least a portion of it.

Reinhart, during the highly anticipated hearing in the West Palm Beach Division of Florida, said that the entire affidavit should not be kept under seal, despite the Justice Department’s argument that the release would jeopardize future steps in the investigation and provide a “roadmap” for the probe.

The Justice Department asked Reinhart to keep the document under seal to “protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”

FBI SEIZES PRIVILEGED TRUMP RECORDS DURING RAID; DOJ OPPOSES REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW: SOURCES

Reinhart also ordered that some documents connected to the search warrant be unsealed Thursday — including the application for the warrant, the motion to seal the affidavit, and the cover sheet.

As for the affidavit, Reinhart ordered that government prosecutors submit a version of the affidavit with proposed redactions within the week. The deadline for the Justice Department to submit the proposed redactions is set for Aug. 25 at noon.

Reinhart will then review those redactions and determine how best to proceed — whether to accept the recommendations from government prosecutors or perform his own redactions instead.

The judge also reminded that the government or media, the two parties to the suit, can appeal his ruling if one or both object to his proposed redactions, which would remain under seal.

Government prosecutor Jay Bratt argued that unsealing the affidavit would “provide a roadmap” of an ongoing investigation still in its early stages.

TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO

Bratt also said the country is in a “volatile” state, and he warned that releasing the names of witnesses or FBI agents would “chill” other witnesses who may still come forward.

“This is not a precedent we want to set,” Bratt said. “The government is very concerned about the safety of witnesses in this case.”

Media organizations arguing the affidavit should be unsealed, the government and Reinhart all agreed that this is a unique and unprecedented case.

Charles Tobin, who argued for the Washington Post and other media organizations, said the raid on Mar-a-Lago was one of the most significant law enforcement actions in the nation’s history, saying, “The public interest could not be greater.”

Trump, while not a party in the hearing, demanded this week that the affidavit be unsealed and released in an unredacted form.

“In the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN,” Trump posted earlier this week.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, in a statement after Reinhart’s ruling, said, “President Trump has made clear his view that the American people should be permitted to see the unredacted affidavit related to the raid and break-in of his home, Mar-a-Lago.”

“Today, magistrate Judge Reinhard [sic] rejected the DOJ’s cynical attempt to hide the whole affidavit from Americans,” Budowich said. “No redactions should be necessary and the whole affidavit should be released, given the Democrats’ penchant for using redactions to hide government corruption, just like they did with the Russia hoax.”

Meanwhile, the documents Reinhart unsealed and released Thursday included the “criminal cover sheet” as well as the application for the warrant.

The government, in that application, said the “basis for the search” was “evidence of a crime” and “contraband, traits of crime, or other items illegally possessed.”

The application said the search is related to “willful retention of national defense information,” “concealment or removal of government records” and “obstruction of federal investigation.”

Reinhart signed the application for the warrant.

On Aug. 5, U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez filed a motion to seal the search warrant and accompanying documents, saying that “there is good cause because the integrity of the ongoing investigation might be compromised” and “evidence might be destroyed.”

The FBI has been criticized for raiding former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
(Fox News)

Reinhart last week unsealed the FBI’s search warrant and property receipt from the search. Reinhart signed the warrant on Aug. 5, giving the FBI authority to conduct its search.

FBI BULLETIN WARNS OF ‘DIRTY BOMB’ THREAT, INCREASING CALLS FOR ‘CIVIL WAR’ AFTER RAID OF MAR-A-LAGO

According to the property receipt, reviewed before its release by Fox News Digital, FBI agents took approximately 20 boxes of items from the premises, including one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which refers to top secret/sensitive compartmented information.

Records covered by that government classification level could potentially include human intelligence and information that, if disclosed, could jeopardize relations between the United States and other nations, as well as the lives of intelligence operatives abroad. However, the classification also encompasses national security information related to the daily operations of the president of the United States.

The property receipt also shows that FBI agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential documents.

The property receipt does not reveal any details about any of those records.

A guard stands outside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Alon Skuy/Fox News Digital)

The list also includes a “leatherbound box of documents,” binders of photos, handwritten notes, miscellaneous documents, miscellaneous top secret documents, miscellaneous confidential documents, as well as other records.

The government conducted the search in response to what it believes to be a violation of federal laws: 18 USC 793 — gathering, transmitting or losing defense information; 18 USC 2071 — concealment, removal or mutilation; and 18 USC 1519 — destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

FBI SEIZED CLASSIFIED RECORDS FROM MAR-A-LAGO DURING SEARCH OF TRUMP RESIDENCE

The allegation of “gathering, transmitting or losing defense information” falls under the Espionage Act.

The former president and his team are disputing the classification and say they believe the information and records to have been declassified.

Sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that the FBI also seized boxes containing records covered by attorney-client privilege and potentially executive privilege during its raid.

Sources told Fox News that, due to attorney-client privilege, Trump’s team asked the Justice Department for their position on whether they would support a third party, independent special master to review those records, but sources told Fox News that DOJ notified Trump’s team that they would oppose that request.

Freelance producer Karen D’uva also contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-orders-release-of-redacted-affidavit-that-led-to-the-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago

But it is unclear how much bandwidth either man had to deal with the issue. Mr. Trump was on contentious terms with Mr. Cipollone after the election, and often berated the lawyer for objecting to his attempts to subvert Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory, according to former officials.

Adding to the disarray was the absence of the White House staff secretary, Derek Lyons, who managed paperwork inside the executive complex but had stepped down on Dec. 18, 2020. That left Mr. Meadows, a former House member with no significant executive experience before joining Mr. Trump’s staff, responsible for overseeing a transition process the president wanted no part of.

Mr. Meadows’s immediate predecessors in that role — President Barack Obama’s last chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and President George W. Bush’s final chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten — had created teams to scrub West Wing offices of anything that belonged to the archives and made the stewardship of government records a priority.

It is unclear whether Mr. Meadows took the same measures, former aides said. But in the administration’s final weeks, the White House emailed all of its offices detailed instructions about returning documents and cleaning out their spaces. Mr. Meadows followed up on those notes and encouraged offices to comply, according to a person familiar with those conversations.

Mr. Meadows also assured White House staff members that he would talk to Mr. Trump about securing records, including ones stashed in the residence, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/us/politics/trump-fbi-search.html

Reinhart ruled last week that he would consider unsealing portions of the affidavit after conferring with the Justice Department and determining whether proposed redactions would be sufficient to protect the ongoing criminal investigation connected to the search. But in his order, Reinhart emphasized that he may ultimately agree with prosecutors that any redactions would be so extensive that they would render the document useless.

“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,” Reinhart wrote.

The new order underlines the historic significance of a typically secret part of the criminal investigative process, arriving just as Trump has indicated he’s preparing to mount his own attack on the FBI investigation in court. The Justice Department is due to propose potential redactions by Thursday, portending a potentially lengthy process of negotiation with Reinhart and possible appeals.

In his order, Reinhart noted that “neither Former President Trump nor anyone else purporting to be the owner of the Premises has filed a pleading taking a position” on efforts to unseal the affidavit.

Reinhart also rejected the contention that unsealing aspects of the affidavit would set a dangerous precedent, given the singular, historic significance of this case.

“Given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence, the Government has not yet shown that these administrative concerns are sufficient to justify sealing,” Reinhart ruled.

Reinhart’s order echoed his decision to shoot down an effort by media organizations and conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch to unseal the entire FBI affidavit. Reinhart acknowledged that some reporting had already indicated the significance of what may have been recovered from Mar-a-Lago — some news reports described nuclear-related information and other documents related to highly classified government programs. But he said those anonymously sourced reports, whether true or not, reveal nothing about the sources and methods the government used to obtain its evidence.

“Disclosure of these facts would detrimentally affect this investigation and future investigations,” Reinhart wrote, adding, “The Government has a compelling reason not to publicize that information at this time.”

Reinhart also echoed the government’s concern about threats to those involved in the investigation if identifying information were released via court documents. He cited news reports about threats to the FBI and the recent attack by an armed man against an FBI building in Cincinnati, though he didn’t mention that he himself has reportedly faced threats.

“Given the public notoriety and controversy about this search, it is likely that even witnesses who are not expressly named in the Affidavit would be quickly and broadly identified over social media and other communication channels, which could lead to them being harassed and intimidated,“ Reinhart noted.

Another reason to keep the affidavit sealed? Trump and his family’s personal protection by the Secret Service. Reinhart noted that the document describes the physical characteristics of Mar-a-Lago.

“Disclosure of those details could affect the Secret Service’s ability to carry out its protective function,” he wrote. “This factor weighs in favor of sealing.”

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/judge-fbi-evidence-mar-a-lago-reliable-00053074

(CNN)The Uvalde school board voted unanimously Wednesday evening to immediately terminate the contract of district police chief Pete Arredondo, three months after a teenaged gunman took the lives of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/us/uvalde-school-police-pete-arredondo/index.html

The grand jury investigation was prompted by a 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people. In its report, released last week, the grand jury said that the Broward school board had mismanaged a program funded by an $800 million bond and failed to deliver on promised projects, including safety upgrades to its schools.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/27/desantis-broward-school-board-parkland/

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. (WREG) — Multiple people were injured Thursday in a shooting inside the Kroger on Byhalia and Poplar Avenue in Collierville, a Memphis suburb, after an active shooter incident officials are calling the “most horrific event” in the town’s history.

Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane confirmed 13 people were shot, and one person killed. The suspected shooter also is dead, possibly from a self-inflicted gunshot, Lane said.

A family member and a Collierville alderman has identified one of the victims as Olivia King.

The suspect’s vehicle is still parked and is being investigated. Sources say the suspect was a sub contractor who did work in the store’s deli department.

Lane said officers entered the store just after 1:30 and found multiple people shot, and employees in hiding. He could not comment on whether the shooter was an employee, saying it was under investigation.

Lane called it “the most horrific event that’s occurred in Collierville history.”

Multiple witnesses report hearing at least a dozen shots. Some customers made it out of the store. Employees had others take shelter in the cooler, witnesses said.

One employee named Brignetta Dickerson, who says she’s worked at the Kroger for 32 years, told WREG she hid with her coworkers and several customers when they heard the gunshots.

She said her only concern was her customers and coworkers.

“I’m still in shock right now,” said Dickerson. “But I was calm. I was calm and told the customers and my co-workers ‘Just sit down and relax. You’ll be okay.’”

Jean Kurzawski said she worked in the back of the Kroger and heard noises toward the front entrance. She thought balloons were popping at first until she saw customers running. She escaped out a back exit and said she heard gunshots continuing behind her.

“I was just thinking, oh I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, he’s gonna shoot me,” she said.

Collierville High School was briefly sheltering in place.

Multiple ambulances were seen entering Regional One Hospital in Memphis. The hospital reported it saw nine patients, four in critical condition and five non-critical.

Kroger released a statement on the shooting:

We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at our Kroger store located on New Byhalia Rd. in Collierville, TN – a suburb of Memphis. The entire Kroger family offers our thoughts, prayers and support to the individuals and families of the victims during this difficult time. We are cooperating with local law enforcement, who have secured the store and parking lot. The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates. To protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we are referring questions to the Collierville Police Department.

Kroger spokesperson

The Collierville store will remain closed until further notice, Kroger Delta Division spokeswoman Teresa Dickerson said.

“We are praying for our associates here in Collierville,” she said.

Source Article from https://www.wreg.com/news/local/active-shooter-on-byhalia-and-poplar/