Trump Mar-a-Lago raid: Judge schedules hearing on potentially unsealing FBI search records

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart scheduled an in-person hearing on Thursday in Florida regarding the unsealing of FBI records related to last week’s raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

The hearing is set to be held Aug. 18 in the West Palm Beach Division. Reinhart will discuss with the government and Trump’s legal team the motion to unseal the search warrant materials and attachments—the affidavit for the search warrant likely is included in that material.

Media organizations are asking Reinhart to unseal the affidavit despite objections by the Department of Justice. Reinhart has not ruled on the matter yet.

For more on this story: Judge schedules hearing on unsealing FBI Mar-a-Lago search records

Former acting chief of staff for President Donald Trump Mick Mulvaney said he hopes Trump does not run in 2024 in a Monday evening appearance on Newsnation’s, “Banfield.”

“I don’t think we should be offering Donald Trump,” Mulvaney told anchor Ashleigh Banfield. “I also think it’s also a time actually for the next generation to take over anyway.”

Mulvaney, who resigned from his White House position in January 2021 citing the Jan. 6 riots, said he would have a “hard time” voting for the former president if Trump were the 2024 Republican candidate. 

For more on this story: Former Trump adviser Mick Mulvaney says he hopes Trump does not run in 2024

After months of polling that showed a red wave could be imminent, Democrats could see a possible comeback in the midterms, according to a Washington Post column. 

“Suddenly, the 2022 midterms are looking much better for Democrats, and there’s a simple explanation: Donald Trump is back on the ballot, metaphorically speaking,” columnist Dana Milbank wrote on Monday.

Describing the recent shift as a “historical anomaly,” Milbank noted that momentum has shifted in the direction of an incumbent president’s party late in the game of an election year—for the first time in modern history.

For more on this story: Washington Post column: Midterms looking ‘much better’ for Democrats because of Trump

A Florida judge has scheduled a hearing Thursday in Florida regarding the matter of unsealing FBI records related to last week’s raid of Mar-a-Lago.

President Trump’s team, on the Truth Social network, called for the unredacted release of the affidavit related to the search, but the Justice Department has opposed doing so, arguing that it will jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

Former President Donald Trump nearly had his summer vacation plans thwarted after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago resort and took his passports.

The FBI initially seized three passports from Trump, two of which were expired. The organization then contacted the former president and returned them on Tuesday. Trump reportedly plans to visit one of his golf resorts in the U.K. in the coming weeks.

Trump posted about the loss of his passports prior to having them returned on Monday. He incorrectly stated that only one of the passports was expired.

For more on this story: Trump’s vacation plans were nearly thwarted after FBI seized his passports