FBI must release Mar-a-Lago probe records despite Trump's criminal immunity: judge

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FBI records from the Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe will soon be released despite the dismissal of the case against President Donald Trump and his presidential immunity, according to a federal judge's ruling Monday.

In a court filing first obtained by Politico, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found that the FBI must disclose more information related to the case by Feb. 20. 

The decision concerned a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case brought by journalist Jason Leopold.

Leopold filed a request with the FBI in 2022 after reports that Trump during his first term "allegedly flushed some presidential records down the toilet when he was still in the White House and brought presidential records, including sensitive classified documents, to his personal residence in Florida," according to the filing.

The FBI asked the court to authorize withholding the records under Exemption 7A, which concerns "records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records or information…could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."

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Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In light of the SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity as well as Trump's election win in November, Trump is exempt from criminal proceedings, but Howell found the documents could still be released because of that fact, as there are no law enforcement proceedings against him.

"Somewhat ironically, the constitutional and procedural safeguards attached to the criminal process include significant confidentiality mechanisms…. with a parallel safeguard in Exemption 7(A) to help preserve the necessary confidentiality of ongoing criminal investigations leading to anticipated enforcement actions, but for an immune president, Exemption 7(A) may simply be unavailable, as it is here," Howell said.

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Documents were seized during the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence on Aug. 8, 2022. (Department of Justice via AP/File)

"Defendants’ motion for summary judgment seeking judgment in their favor as to the legality of relying on Exemption 7(A) to withhold entirely the FBI’s investigative files from the processing of the FOIA request at issue and to assert a Glomar response to the sixth category of requested information, must be denied, and plaintiff’s cross motion for summary judgment as to these legal issues is granted," the decision concluded. "The parties are directed to submit jointly, by February 20, 2025, a status report proposing a schedule to govern future proceedings to conclude this case expeditiously."

Howell also noted that though Trump is immune from prosecution, anyone who may have helped to "aid, abet and execute criminal acts," is not.

Former President Donald Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat in Palm Beach, Fla., on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

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"Of course, while the Supreme Court has provided a protective and presumptive immunity cloak for a president's conduct, that cloak is not so large to extend to those who aid, abet and execute criminal acts on behalf of a criminally immune president," Howell wrote in a footnote. "The excuse offered after World War II by enablers of the fascist Nazi regime of 'just following orders' has long been rejected in this country's jurisprudence."