People Have a 'Right to Know' What Was in Trump Affidavit: Alan Dershowitz

Former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz has said people have a "right to know" what's in the affidavit that was used as part of the basis for an FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Dershowitz called for the unsealing of the affidavit during an episode of his podcast released on Thursday and referred to special warrants required to search medicine cabinets and safes.

The former president's safe was reportedly searched during the FBI raid at his residence in Palm Beach, Florida as part of an investigation into the handling of White House documents.

Dershowitz, who was part of Trump's legal team during his first impeachment in 2020, discussed the opening of Trump's safe and reports that "nothing was in there."

"So I want to see the affidavit," he said. "I want to know how Judge Reinhart justified allowing the breaking-in of the safe. Remember, to get into a safe, you have to have a special warrant."

"You can't just say in a search warrant we want to do this, we want to look at that, we want to go in a safe," Dershowitz said. "You really have to justify that. I want to see what the justification was. I don't care about the names of the people or the cooperating witnesses but what did they say was in there and why did they turn out to be wrong?"

"Was something moved? How long has it been since the safe was open? And all of these issues are things that we should have a right to know," he said.

Dershowitz, who has represented or advised celebrities such as Mike Tyson and O.J. Simpson, went on to say that people were "entitled" to know what happened with regard to the search.

"What was the basis for allowing a search to extend beyond the office into the personal closet?" he said.

He went on to say that "We need to know and we have a right to know" and accused the ACLU and other liberal groups of being "asleep at the wheel" on the issue.

Dershowitz discussed the hearing about unsealing the warrant and said his "general rule" is "go with the person who wants disclosure, not with the person who wants secrecy. It makes sense."

Judge Bruce Reinhart did not rule out releasing a redacted version of the affidavit on Thursday when he heard arguments on the release of the document, which legal experts told Newsweek Reinhart would have used to assess whether the FBI had probable cause for the search.

Later in the podcast, Dershowitz noted that if Reinhart chooses to release the affidavit, the federal government will be able to appeal that decision because Reinhart is a federal magistrate judge. Magistrate judges are appointed by district judges to deal with matters including bond hearings and signing off on search warrants.

"I suspect, either way, Judge Reinhart's decisions will almost certainly be appealed to the federal district court," he said.

In an op-ed for Newsweek on Thursday, Dershowitz also called for the unsealing of the affidavit with redactions and highlighted the issue of the safe.

During his podcast, Dershowitz addressed Trump's recent deposition in New York in an investigation of the Trump Organization's finances where he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights.

He said that there are often good reasons to take the Fifth Amendment even if a person is not guilty of any crime but that invoking the amendment could be used in arguments against Trump in a civil case, which the investigation is, by drawing negative inferences.

"I have no idea why Trump took the Fifth Amendment," Dershowitz said. "It does not seem to me like a good idea. It seems to me like it will backfire."

Newsweek has asked Dershowitz for comment.