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1 1 (December 27, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejyn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ R aesearch Service The Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant: A Legal Introduction Updated December 27, 2022 In August 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida. A magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida later unsealed the warrant, an inventory of property seized, and a redacted version of the warrant's supporting affidavit. The warrant authorized government officials to seize all documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of three federal statutes-18 U.S.C. @@ 793, 2071, and 1519. This Sidebar describes the process for and implications of obtaining a search warrant. It then examines the criminal offenses identified in the Mar-a-Lago warrant. Next, this Sidebar analyzes presidential authority to declassify documents and the role of declassification for the crimes at issue. Finally, this Sidebar discusses three developments related to the warrant-the former president's request for a special master, an ongoing grand jury investigation in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C. District Court), and the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the government's investigation. Obtaining Search Warrants The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. When law enforcement conducts a search, the Supreme Court has said that the preferred process under the Fourth Amendment is to do so pursuant to a search warrant, although warrantless searches are reasonable in some circumstances. Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Fourth Amendment itself establish a number of requirements for obtaining a search warrant. Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment, a warrant must be based on probable cause, a standard the Supreme Court has described as incapable of precise definition or quantification into percentages. Exact formulations vary, but the Supreme Court has characterized the probable-cause standard as the kind of 'fair probability' on which 'reasonable and prudent' people act. Probable cause is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion but does not require proof that something is more likely true than false. To satisfy the probable-cause standard to obtain a search warrant, law enforcement must generally show a likelihood that (1) the materials sought are seizable by virtue of being connected with criminal activity and (2) the materials will be found in the place to be searched. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10810 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress