The Volokh Conspiracy

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Parts of the Mar-A-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit Will Be Unsealed

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


From today's court order:

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on motions to unseal the search warrant materials, including the probable cause affidavit, that were filed by the Media-Intervenors. ECF Nos. 4, 6, 9, 20, 22, 23, 30-33. Today I held a hearing on the motions. As I ruled from the bench at the conclusion of the hearing, I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed.

It is ORDERED that by noon EST on Thursday, August 25, 2022, the Government shall file under seal its proposed redactions along with a legal memorandum setting forth the justification for the proposed redactions. It is FURTHER ORDERED that ECF No. 57 shall be unsealed by the Clerk of Court.

Here's ECF No. 57, which isn't terribly exciting. You can also read the government's argument against unsealing the probable cause affidavit, and the media intervenors' argument in favor of unsealing it (though perhaps with redactions).

Eugene Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA and a Visiting Fellow (Senior Fellow starting May 2024) at the Hoover Institution (Stanford). Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any educational institution.