United
States Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart released several procedural court
documents related to FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida
home Mar-a-Lago Thursday. One of the documents among those released offer
specifics about crimes the Justice Department is probing, according to CNN. The
Department of Justice (DoJ) is probing “wilful retention of national defence
information.”

The
newly-released document was part of the application of the FBI’s warrant to search
Trump’s home and was among several largely procedural documents the judge
unsealed Thursday.

Until
Thursday’s unsealing, the search warrant documents showed only federal statutes,
including reference to the Espionage Act. Documents in the public domain so far
have made it clear that Trump and others around him face potential legal
exposure, including for possible obstruction of justice.

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The
critical question is around the specific language on “wilful retention’. This
could point to Trump’s role for he would be authorised to possess documents
regarding national security while in office but not after he had decamped.

Prosecutors
said in their filings that they need the search warrant paperwork to stay secret
to preserve the integrity of the investigation. “Because the integrity of the
ongoing investigation might be compromised, and evidence might be destroyed,”
they said.

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The filings
comprise the DoJ’s motion to seal the warrant documents, the order granting the
sealing request and the criminal cover sheet. The cover sheet states that the
DoJ applied to search Donald Trump’s home believing they could find evidence of
crime and get back illegally obtained documents.

Also Read | Why is DOJ opposed to unsealing Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago search affidavit

Meanwhile,
Judge Reinhart, on Thursday, initiated a potential public release of a heavily
redacted version of the affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago search. The judge has
called upon the DoJ to explain how extensively investigators want to keep the
search documents secret. The judge said he wasn’t convinced that the entire
affidavit should be undisclosed to the public.

“I’m not
prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed,” on the basis of
the record he has now, Judge Reinhart said. He added portions of the affidavit could
be unsealed.