Donald Trump, the former US
President, is under a US Department of Justice investigation for taking
government documents, including some reportedly confidential, to his Palm Beach,
Florida residence Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House. The Department of
Justice, on Friday, released a redacted affidavit of the search warrant that
had allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search the former
president’s house.

While releasing the redacted
search warrant affidavit, the DOJ explained that it had to redact the document
for national security reasons, in a legal brief. The Justice Department said it
proposed redactions to the protect against possible threats to witnesses. The
DOJ argued that without the proposed redactions, “the affidavit could be used
to identify many, if not all, of these witnesses.”

Also Read | Donald Trump home search warrant: FBI says there could be ‘evidence of obstruction’

This statement is followed
by two paragraphs of redacted material. The Justice Department believes if
identities of witnesses were to become public, they could be subjected to harms,
including retaliation, intimidation or harassment, and even threats to their
physical safety. The DOJ further said the affidavit had to be redacted because
its details would provide a “road map” to the probe, and revealing “this
information could thus adversely impact the government’s pursuit of relevant
evidence.”

“In addition, revealing
this information could severely disadvantage the government as it seeks further
information from witnesses,” the DOJ explained, adding, “In short, the
government has well-founded concerns that steps may be taken to frustrate or
otherwise interfere with this investigation if facts in the affidavit were
prematurely disclosed.”

Also Read | Takeaways from the unsealed Mar-a-Lago search affidavit

The affidavit revealed to
the public on Friday is written by a special agent of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). While the identity of the FBI agent has not been disclosed,
the document reveals that the agent is trained in “counterintelligence and
espionage investigations.”

Donald Trump, the subject
of the investigation, wrote on TRUTH Social after the DOJ revealed the document
and called the probe a “public relations subterfuge.”