plus, incredible new reporting on just how easy it is to infiltrate the resort home where donald trump stored an actual security secrets. and after an incredibly successful week, the biden administration warning republicans ahead of the midterms. they are about to find out! when all in starts right now. good evening from new york. i am chris hayes. we have the affidavit, filed by the fbi, in support of its search warrant of the ex presidents retirement home. now, there are a lot of really fascinating nuggets and revelations throughout, despite its quite heavy redactions. but one stands starkly out, as it did during the initial reveal of the search warrant itself. just the plain confirmation, black and white, quote, probable cause exists to believe that evidence contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed will be found at mar-a-lago. that is really the not of it, right there, isn t it? that s all with this has been about, the back and forth wi
18 former trump administration officials spoke exclusively with cnn to refute trump s attempted defense for stashing top secret papers at mar-a-lago. and the long-time chief financial officer for the trump organization pleads guilty for his role in a tax fraud scheme. allen weisselberg agreeing to testify against the former president s company but not against trump or his family. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with new moves by a federal judge to give the public more information about the historic fbi search of former president trump s florida home. cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider reports on today s important hearing in florida. tonight, a federal judge in florida says he wants at least some portions of the affidavit justifying the mar-a-lago search made public, saying i m not prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed. before deciding, magistrate
other grand jury material. but what is now public tells a damning story about the former twice impeached president who, by the way, is the one who originally called for the affidavit to be released. trying to play chicken with the doj before they called his bluff. now, first in the government s 13-page memo explaining the rationale for the redactions they said parts must remain sealed to, quote, protect the safety and privacy for a significant number of witnesses in addition to law enforcement. in other words, the fbi s probable cause was not based on a single informant but a number of different witnesses likely having to be people inside the trump s orbit and i m sure that fact is not sitting well with donald tonight. and the affidavit explains why many of them might have cooperated. it describes in specific detail the nature of some of the documents that were just laying around trump s golf resort. in 15 boxes of documents returned to the national archives in january the fb
rinehart is giving the justice department one week to decide which item in the affidavit against the former president should remain sealed and which should be released. the justice department is likely to ask for a lot of different redactions here. they say this case is still very much in the works. they are also worried that information released could put some witnesses who are cooperating with the government at risk. citing intense interest in the case against former president donald trump today lawyers from multiple media outlets argued for the government town seal a criminal affidavit and additional materials outlining where the federal investigation stands and what led up to last week s unprecedented search of mar-a-lago. trump s florida estate. that is the public interest. we are entitled to monitor the affairs of our government at all levels. and that is the interest in this essence that we were asserting today. federal prosecutors told judge bruce rinehart full