A US judge ordered, this Thursday (18), the release of documents that list reasons for the operation of the FBI, the US federal police, in the home of former President Donald Trump, on the 8th. defeat for the White House, which had already said that such a procedure would affect the investigations.
The action analyzed on Thursday was filed by several US media outlets, such as the New York Times and Wall Street. The Justice Department – ​​linked to the US government – ​​can still appeal. Otherwise, the agency will need to disclose the documents by next Thursday (25).
Earlier this week, the White House opposed the release of the material, arguing that it would compromise future stages of the investigation. Judge Bruce Reinhart, however, said that “there are parts of the testimony that can be opened”, referring to the passage that presents the wanted reasons for the search warrant in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Prior to Reinhart’s remarks, the Justice Department’s head of counterintelligence and export control, Jay Bratt, said that “there is another public interest at stake: that criminal investigations can proceed unhindered.”
Media outlets, on the other hand, argue that the historic significance of the Florida operation outweighs any arguments to keep the records sealed. “The public could not have a more compelling interest in ensuring maximum transparency about this event,” said Charles Tobin, one of the lawyers defending the press.
Apparently, the former president is also in favor of disclosure. In recent statements, he asked the court to publish confidential excerpts of the warrant. None of his lawyers, however, formally submitted the request. His lawyer Christina Bobb, by the way, attended the trial this Thursday.
The Mar-a-Lago search marked an escalation in federal and state investigations against Trump, who has already expressed an interest in running again for the White House in 2024.
In another investigation, later on Thursday, Allen Weisselberg, a former chief financial officer of the Trump Organizations and a close associate of the former president, pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion. He will have to testify in the trial against the company, according to a press release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Weisselberg, 75, is accused of 15 financial crimes involving $1.76 million in unreported income between 2005 and 2021. The former director has worked for Trump since 1973 and is considered a discreet man. So far, he has refused to testify in person against the former US president.
Another investigation, this time a civil one, but under the same suspicions of financial and tax fraud, is led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Trump, by the way, testified under oath last week but refused to answer questions, invoking the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution, which allows him not to testify against himself.
