On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart – the same judge who signed off on the search warrant – unsealed that warrant and the property receipt at the request of the Justice Department after both Garland and Trump encouraged their release. Thus far, however, the Biden Justice Department has refused to release the affidavit related to the Mar-A-Lago raid. While Trump has called for the release of the unredacted affidavit in the interest of transparency, the government argues that making the affidavit public would "cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation."
Abraham Hamilton III is General Counsel and public policy analyst for American Family Association. During his program Monday on American Family Radio, Hamilton weighed in on the controversy.
"I want to see the affidavit – that's what I want to see. And I think the American public should see the affidavit," stated the former assistant DA. "I saw something that [implied government officials] don't want to release the affidavit because it could chill the future cooperation of other witnesses."
Which prompted questions that Hamilton – if given the chance – would ask: "So, are [witnesses] named in the affidavit? Are you incapable of redacting their name from the affidavit? Or is something else going on?"
He then pursued further the potential impact of a released affidavit:
"If it is determined that the search warrant was secured under false pretenses; and if the warrant ends up being tossed because Judge Reinhart wasn't given all of the information – then none of this stuff secured from the warrant is going to be usable in a criminal prosecution. Which then raises the question: if you have evidence that you cannot use at trial, was the purpose to truly have a criminal investigation? Or are you using criminal processes simply to accomplish a political objective?"
Political motivation? Possibly
Some Republicans and other conservative voices believe the raid on the former president's residence was an attempt to find evidence useful in labeling Trump an "insurrectionist" or attaching some sort of criminal charge to him so that he would be ineligible to run for president again in 2024.
That likely refers to a separate section of the U.S. Constitution that bans federal office holders who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" – a condition added after the Civil War. But PolitiFact argues it would be "a long shot" to use that to keep today's candidates off the ballot. J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department attorney, agrees.
"That statute is not constitutional," says Adams, who is founder and president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. "The Congress can't set the rules of who can run for president; the Constitution does. So that's not an issue – because that statute is not constitutional."
Adams, however, tells AFN he's sure of one thing when it comes political motivation: "There is all out assault on Donald Trump, and there's a lot of questions [surrounding the Mar-a-Lago raid]. I just don't know the answer, but I can tell you that they're bound and determined to get him."
Voter motivation? Without a doubt
A Messianic Jewish leader says Americans are witnessing a lawless Biden administration that is acting like one of the most notorious organizations in world history.
In the wake of the FBI raid on Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, a poll taken by the Trafalgar Group shows that a whopping 84% of Republican voters – and 72% of independents – are more likely to vote in the midterms than they were before the raid. Many Americans are concerned that the United States has devolved into a Third World nation or a banana republic.
Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries. During a recent broadcast on American Family Radio, she said the world is witnessing the weaponization of government for power.
"The [Biden] administration is acting – if I can be so blunt – like the Gestapo. They are as lawless as any street thug conducting a smash-and-grab operation," Markell shared.
"What we saw go down in Mar-a-Lago – the raiding of a former president's personal home by the very administration that feels politically threatened by the former president – is but one more confirmation that we no longer live in a free republic."
Instead, said the radio host, America appears to be quickly becoming "a police state or a banana republic."
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.