[FoxNews] US District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that SCOTUS gave Trump a 'protective and presumptive immunity cloak'
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."
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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