PALM BEACH, Fla. — It was another eventful week of developments surrounding the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
New details about it may be released soon after a federal court hearing Thursday in West Palm Beach.
By 12 p.m. on Aug. 25, the Department of Justice will have to deliver a redacted version of the lengthy affidavit for the search warrant to the chambers of Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, and WPTV is told it can be emailed or personally delivered.
"There is no deadline for him to do this. Now we all agree pressure is mounting from the outside," said David Weinstein, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
According to Weinstein, the judge will look at what the Department of Justice wants to leave out, and either accept it or make changes, and we likely shouldn’t expect much.
"I think if a redacted document is released, no matter how long or short it is, there is going to be a lot of redactions and primarily pages that are filled with black," Weinstein said.
Weinstein said what may be unsealed are things already unsealed from the search warrant, including items taken, rooms searched, and the possible violations from the Espionage Act.
All of this happening at a former president’s home, a first said WPTV political analyst Brian Crowley.
"What has happened is extraordinary and acceptable. The question now is, can the FBI prove that they had a real reason to do this?" Crowley said.
The search and the possible unsealing of the warrant are likely to have long-lasting effects. Weinstein said it could affect future federal cases and may even speed up the Mar-a-Lago investigation.
"The fact that part it is going to be released is certainly going to play into depending on what’s released, their thoughts on how much quicker they’re going to move to present potential charges to the grand jury to consider whether or not an indictment should be returned," Weinstein said.
The question now is if and when we might see any of this affidavit.
Weinstein said whatever the judge decides to do with the affidavit, his decision will be appealed, leading a delay of perhaps weeks.