Trump news – live: Justice department opposes release of Mar-a-Lago search evidence

Calls for release of court documents come after search warrant showed Trump had 11 sets of classified documents

What happened during the FBI Mar-a-Lago raid?

The justice department on Monday rebuffed efforts to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The DoJ stated the investigation “implicates highly classified material” and the document contains sensitive information about witnesses.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has given his first interview since the raid, a discussion with Fox News Digital in which he acknowledged that the temperature of public discourse “has to be brought down” as angry supporters fume at the FBI raid.

However, he continued to frame the raid as part of a political witch hunt against him rather than a law enforcement action executed according to due process.

"The country is in a very dangerous position,” Mr Trump warned the outlet. “There is tremendous anger, like I've never seen before, over all of the scams, and this new one – years of scams and witch hunts, and now this."

The FBI has warned that threats against federal law enforcement personnel are spiking dramatically in the wake of the raid.

Key Points

• Justice department opposes release of FBI affidavit behind Mar-a-Lago raid
• Republicans push to see affidavit justifying FBI raid of Trump’s home
• Trump demands FBI return documents to Mar-a-Lago
• Trump makes ominous warning of ‘great simmering anger'
• Trump claims FBI stole his passport

[16 August 2022 05:15 · Stuti Mishra]

Trump attorney: 'We don't know exactly what they took'

Lindsey Halligan, an attorney representing former president Donald Trump, told Fox News in an interview a while ago that the justice department has not revealed what the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago, calling the inventory description provided by them “borderline worthless”.

Ms Halligan was questioned by Sean Hannity on what other items “besides the passport” were taken during the raid ‘that should never have been taken”, to which she said the FBI did not say “where the documents were located or what specifically was taken.”

“We’ve asked multiple times for a real inventory description of what was taken, but the inventory list they gave us is borderline worthless,” she said.

“But we have real concerns in terms of whether they were right to take certain things. The Department of Justice is not communicating with us as to what the evidence is and what their intentions are, but we will continue to try to get to the bottom of it.”

Lindsey Halligan, an attorney representing former president Donald Trump, speaks on Fox News

(Screengrab/Fox News)

[16 August 2022 04:27 · Stuti Mishra]

Justice department opposes release of FBI affidavit behind Mar-a-Lago raid

The justice department has rebuffed efforts to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The DoJ stated the investigation “implicates highly classified material” and the document contains sensitive information about witnesses.

The government’s opposition came in response to court filings by several news organisations seeking to unseal the underlying affidavit.

Read more details of the response here:

[16 August 2022 04:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Rand Paul mocked for call to repeal Espionage Act

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has called to repeal of the Espionage Act, the law cited in the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s southern Florida club Mar-a-Lago.

“The espionage act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI. It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment,” Mr Paul tweeted on Saturday night.

[16 August 2022 03:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump asked Merrick Garland how he could ‘reduce the heat' before FBI warrant was unsealed, report says

Donald Trump personally appealed to Attorney General Merrick Garland before the FBI warrant behind the raid at Mar-a-Lago was unsealed, a new report says.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday that he had approved the search at Mar-a-Lago, and he implied that the Department of Justice (DOJ) wouldn’t have done so without attempting less intrusive actions first.

The New York Times reports that a message was passed to Mr Garland shortly before he gave his statement on Thursday.

[16 August 2022 02:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage subpoenaed by DoJ

Surveillance video subpoenaed by the Department of Justice has raised concerns that Donald Trump may still have some classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Investigators from the DOJ subpoenaed video from a 60-day period “including views from outside the storage room”, reported The New York Times.

Graeme Massie has the details.

[16 August 2022 02:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Poll shows FBI raid gave Trump a 10-point boost over DeSantis

The FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate gave the former president a 10-point boost over likely 2024 rival Ron DeSantis among GOP primary voters, according to a new poll.

Graeme Massie reports.

[16 August 2022 01:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump demands FBI return documents taken from Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump is calling on the Justice Department to hand over some of the documents seized on Monday in a raid of his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida.

In a Truth Social post, the former president reacted to a Fox News report which stated on Saturday that the FBI had informed Mr Trump’s team following the raid that some of the documents they seized were protected under attorney-client privilege.

John Bowden reports.

[16 August 2022 00:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Report says Trump lawyer told DoJ all classified material had been returned

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump reportedly told the Department of Justice that all classified material at Mar-a-Lago had been returned in June.

At least one member of Mr Trump’s legal team signed a written statement earlier this summer stating that all of the materials marked as classified which were stored in boxes at Mr Trump’s private Florida club and home had been handed over to the government, according to four individuals who spoke to The New York Times.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

[15 August 2022 23:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Did Trump leak Mar-a-Lago search warrant?

Donald Trump is under fire for allegedly leaking the entire unredacted warrant and “endangering” FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago home as part of an investigation into the removal of official records from the White House.

A judge unsealed a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant documents, which show the Justice Department recovered 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked with the highest levels of classification.

Peony Hirwani reports.

[15 August 2022 23:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

ICYMI: Trump lawyer claims investigations will be dropped if he says he won’t run in 2024

Donald Trump’s lawyer has claimed that all investigations into him will be dropped if he says he won’t run in 2024.

“I’ve said it 100 times – if he’s not leading in the polls – I’ve sat across from him, every time he gets frustrated I say to him, ‘Mr President, if you would like me to resolve all your litigation, you should announce that you are not running for office, and all of this will stop,’” the former president’s attorney Alina Habba told Real America’s Voice.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.