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Obama-appointed judge orders FBI to release records of dismissed Mar-a-Lago docs probe

February 11, 2025 | | Print Article

An Obama-appointed judge openly critical of the president’s Jan. 6 pardons issued a new ruling related to the dismissed classified documents case.

As Elon Musk endeavored to do exactly the kind of work for President Donald Trump that voters had elected the GOP leader to accomplish, efforts to clear out the swamp have prompted many calls for impeachments. Monday, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell was added to the list as outrage spread over her ordering the FBI to disclose information about the investigation.

“Absent correct application of an exemption, disclosure is required to allow the American people to learn about actions of government officials that the officials themselves may not otherwise want to be made public,” contended Howell as she ruled in favor of journalist Jason Leopold.

In Feb. 2022, months before the August raid of Mar-a-Lago, Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that raised reports Trump “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.”

Making note that of the dismissal of the classified documents case that had been brought by then-Special Counsel Jack Smith and the presidential immunity ruling of the Supreme Court, Howell stated, “With the far dampened possibility of any criminal investigation to gather evidence about a president’s conduct and of any public enforcement proceeding against a president, the [Supreme Court’s] decision…has left a FOIA request as a critical tool for the American public to keep apprised of a president’s conduct.”

The FBI asked the court to permit the records to be withheld under Exemption 7(A) which allowed for disregard of FOIA requests “if the ‘records or information’ were ‘compiled for law enforcement purposes’ and ‘could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.'”

Regarding their position, Howell argued, “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.”

In January, the judge opined on Trump’s pardons and commutations for Jan. 6 prisoners, “[T]his Court cannot let stand the revisionist myth relayed in the presidential pronouncement,” claiming the prosecutions of those at the U.S. Capital “present no injustice, but instead reflect the diligent work of conscientious public servants, including prosecutors and law enforcement officials, and dedicated defense attorneys, to defend our democracy and rights and preserve our long tradition of peaceful transfers of power…”

Her commentary on the decision that required the FBI to submit to the FOIA request by Feb. 20 included the footnote, “Of course, while the Supreme Court has provided a protective and presumptive immunity cloak for a president’s conduct, that cloak is not so large to extend to those who aid, abet and execute criminal acts on behalf of a criminally immune president.”

Howell went on to state, “The excuse offered after World War II by enablers of the fascist Nazi regime of ‘just following orders’ has long been rejected in this country’s jurisprudence.”

Musk reacted on X, “It’s time,” to a post reminding, “Federal judges can be impeached by Congress,” journalist Cara Castronuova was among those calling out alleged injustices of Howell as a prime example asserting she had “created illegal new ‘rules'” to keep J6ers detained and that “She is beyond evil and compromised.”

Kevin Haggerty
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