DOJ doesn't want the public to see the contents of affidavit for Mar-a-Lago raid

After the raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, the search warrant that Attorney General Merrick Garland greenlit and U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed was unsealed. Also revealed was the property receipt summarizing what the FBI walked out with. However, the affidavit that would have supported probable cause and therefore would indicate the basis upon which the warrant was believed to be justified was kept sealed.

Due to pressure from numerous media organizations and other entities to unseal the search warrant and related documents, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file an omnibus response "to all motions to unseal" by 5:00 p.m. on August 15.

Accordingly, on Monday, U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez and chief at the Justice Department's counterintelligence and export control section Jay Bratt filed the DOJ's response. In it, they urged the court not to unseal the affidavit.