Judicial Watch files FOIA suit against National Archives for its DOJ referral to investigate Trump records

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FIRST ON FOX: Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the National Archives and Records Administration on Wednesday, demanding all communications and materials related to its referral to the Justice Department for former President Trump’s presidential records.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) asked the Justice Department to review Trump’s handling of White House records in February — an investigation that ultimately led to the raid of his private residence at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

"The Biden administration’s raid on President Trump’s home is an outrageous, reckless and unprecedented abuse of power," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News Digital. "And the American people have an urgent right to know how the Biden administration manufactured the records dispute used as a pretext for the raid on Trump’s home."

Fitton added: "The Biden administration’s unlawful secrecy on its political raid of Trump’s home speaks volumes."

BIDEN SIGNED OFF ON FBI REVIEW OF TRUMP RECORDS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES LETTER REVEALS

A police officer speaks with a woman outside former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after it was raided by the FBI in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 8, 2022. (Reuters/Marco Bello)

Judicial Watch is requesting all related records of communication between any official or employee of NARA, and any official or employee of the Department of Justice, and any other branch, department, agency or office of the federal government.

The organization is also requesting records regarding the retrieval of records from Trump, or any individual or entity acting on his behalf, by NARA.

Judicial Watch, in a separate case, has moved to unseal all warrant materials, including the affidavit, that the Justice Department used to justify the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.

JUDGE REINHART FORMALLY REJECTS DOJ ARGUMENT TO KEEP TRUMP AFFIDAVIT SEALED, CALLS RAID ‘UNPRECEDENTED’

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed the search warrant, formally ruled Monday that the Justice Department propose redactions to the original affidavit so that he can review it to determine whether it can be released to the public.

Reinhart said that "given the intense public and historical interest in an unprecedented search of a former President’s residence," the Justice Department has "not yet shown" that the affidavit must remain sealed.

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The Justice Department has until Thursday at noon to submit the affidavit with its proposed redactions, after arguing that unsealing the document would jeopardize its ongoing investigation.

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Meanwhile, Fox News reported this week that the Biden White House, at the request of the Justice Department, signed off to have the FBI and the intelligence community examine hundreds of pages of classified documents Trump turned over to NARA this spring.