WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge said he will unseal by 12 p.m. Friday a redacted probable cause affidavit connected to ahigh-profile search warrant that was executed at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property on Palm Beach earlier this month.
The Department of Justice had until 12 p.m. Thursday to submit proposed redactions to the affidavit.
According to federal court records, two separate items, listed as "restricted/sealed until further notice," were filed in the case on Thursday.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said in a written order the government had met the burden of showing a "compelling reason and good cause to seal portions of the affidavit."
"I think there will be redacted versions that do come out," said media law attorney Deanna Shullman, who has represented WPTV in public records cases in the past. "Whether they are redacted to such an extent that we can't really get much from them remains to be seen."
WATCH: What could we see in Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit?
In his order Thursday, Judge Reinhardt said portions of the affidavit that will remain sealed include the identities of witnesses, law enforcement, and uncharged parties, along with the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, or methods, and grand jury information.
"The government is allowed to redact those things they can prove to the court a compelling interest in keeping secret," Shullman said. "So those are things like the identity of confidential informants, the identity of cooperating witnesses, the potential identities of other targets of the investigation that we may not yet be aware of, the sources and methods of the investigation, where the investigation is going or headed."
During an Aug. 18 hearing at the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building in downtown West Palm Beach, Reinhart said he will likely unseal parts of the probable cause affidavit.
Multiple media outlets, including WPTV's parent company, requested that Reinhart unseal the document, which may detail why the FBI was so anxious to get inside Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8 and seize the things agents found.
The Department of Justice, however, is resisting the release of the affidavit, saying that doing so could jeopardize any possible case and even future cases.
In a recent filing, the government argued that "if disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government's ongoing investigation" and that disclosure "would likely chill future cooperation by witnesses."
During the Aug. 18 hearing, Jay Bratt, an attorney for the Department of Justice, told Reinhart that releasing a redacted version of the affidavit is "not practical."
Bratt admitted there is heightened public interest in this case, but there are things in the document that can't be revealed. In addition, Bratt expressed concerns over the identities of federal agents and the impact on witnesses.
However, media attorney Charles Tobin argued for unsealing the affidavit, telling Reinhart there is a compelling public interest and "you cannot trust what you cannot see."
"[The Justice Department] did tell us that [the affidavit] includes a road map for the investigation as it stands right now," Shullman said after the Aug. 18 hearing. "It explains the scope and breath of that application, and it has a number of confidential informants and witnesses whose ongoing participation may be jeopardized by the disclosure."
Reinhart on Aug. 12 unsealed a list of items, including some documents labeled "top secret" and "highly classified," which were taken from Mar-a-Lago by federal agents.
Trump and other Republican lawmakers have called for the release of the affidavit related to the search of the former president's home.
A Trump spokesperson classified the search as a "raid and break-in," adding in a written statement that "no redactions should be necessary," claiming that redactions in this case would be used to "hide government corruption."
Reinhart signed off on the search warrant and has been the focus of intense criticism among Trump's political and media supporters.
Legal analysts told WPTV they expect the Department of Justice will file an immediate appeal if Reinhart rules to unseal the affidavit, which could lead to a delay of perhaps weeks of any documents getting released to the public.
