If he doesn't, he'll either hold another hearing with the government or issue his own proposed redactions, Reinhart said. If the judge finds them satisfactory, he'll issue an order to move forward with the redactions. The government will file its proposed redactions on Aug. "This is going to be a considerate, careful process," Reinhart said at the close of the proceeding. The lawyers representing the media reminded Reinhart time and again over the course of the hearing that the judge is "the gatekeeper" between the government and the public. Any proposed redactions must be looked at critically, Tobin said. Tobin acknowledged that while it may be a considerable undertaking to redact the affidavit, "that doesn’t overcome the public’s right to these materials.”
It'll take time and resources to make those redactions, he said - resources pulled away from the actual investigation. He also said that releasing a redacted version sets a difficult precedent for the government to uphold. Jay Bratt, who spoke to the judge on behalf of the government, cautioned that so much of the affidavit will need to be redacted, only gibberish will remain. Transparency is paramount in a case as unprecedented as this one, he said, and "you can’t trust what you cannot see.” “We the people are the ultimate stakeholders," said Chuck Tobin, a lawyer who spoke on behalf of the media organizations. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart weighed the concerns of the government that releasing the affidavit could jeopardize their investigation against the concerns of the media, whose attorneys questioned the legality of a blanket restriction.Īfter an hour and a half long hearing, Reinhart agreed with the media that portions of the affidavit should be unsealed. Department of Justice and various media agencies, including The Palm Beach Post, took turns arguing before a federal judge magistrate about whether the affidavit for the search of former President Donald Trump's Palm Beach home should remain sealed.
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