By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News
Good Thursday afternoon. A federal judge has ordered the DOJ to redact the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit, an NFL superstar has been suspended 11 games over sexual misconduct allegations, and a brain-eating amoeba is suspected in the death of a Nebraska child.
Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.
Judge orders DOJ to redact Trump search warrant affidavit
A federal judge in Florida has ordered the Justice Department to redact the probable cause affidavit used to secure a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, before its potential public release.
“On my initial careful review ... there are portions of it that can be unsealed,” Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said at a hearing this afternoon.
Reinhart said he would allow the government to make redactions and submit them to the court by next Thursday for review.
Attorneys for media companies, including NBC News, have asked the judge to unseal the document, arguing the public has a “clear and powerful interest” in “understanding these unprecedented events.”
Trump and his allies are also calling for the affidavit to be released, in the interest of transparency.
But the Justice Department says the affidavit contains “highly sensitive information about witnesses,” and argues that unsealing it could compromise its investigation.
The judge previously unsealed the warrant and property receipt from the search, showing the FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago.
Top Trump Organization executive pleads guilty to tax fraud
There was more legal drama today for Donald Trump in New York. Allen Weisselberg, a longtime top executive for Trump’s family business, pleaded guilty to multiple tax fraud charges.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were charged in 2021 in an alleged 15-year scheme to help company executives avoid paying taxes.
Weisselberg agreed to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, interest, and penalties and serve five months in jail on Rikers Island followed by five years of probation, the judge said.
As part of a plea bargain, Weisselberg will testify for the prosecution when the Trump Organization goes on trial this fall, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Deshaun Watson suspended 11 games over sexual misconduct allegations
The NFL and Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson have agreed to an 11-game suspension, officials said today, after he was accused of sexual misconduct by two dozen women.
Watson must also pay a $5 million fine and undergo mandatory treatment. He won’t be back on the field until week 13, against his former team the Houston Texans.
Earlier this month, a league disciplinary officer ruled Watson should be suspended for six games, but the league appealed, seeking a tougher punishment.
Watson has settled 23 out of 24 lawsuits filed against him by women who’ve accused him of sexualized contact during massage sessions, attorneys for the plaintiffs have said.
“I have always stood on my innocence and am going to continue to stand on that, but at the same time I have to continue to push forward on my life and my career,” Watson said at a news conference, after the suspension was announced.
In another statement, the owners of the Browns called Watson an “outstanding member of our organization” and said, “we will continue to support him as he focuses on earning the trust of our community.”
Brain-eating amoeba suspected in death of Nebraska child
Nebraska health officials suspect that a rare, brain-eating amoeba often found in freshwater lakes and rivers caused the death of a child.
The child, whose age was not disclosed, is believed to have been exposed to the Naegleria fowleri amoeba while swimming in the Elkhorn River on Aug. 8, health officials said.
If confirmed, this would be Nebraska’s the first known death from the amoeba, the state's Department of Health and Human Services said.
Douglas County officials are urging residents to exercise caution around any warm, freshwater sources.
Home sales fall for sixth straight month as housing market cools
The red-hot housing market continues to show signs of cooling, with sales of existing homes falling nearly 6 percent in July from the previous month, according to a monthly report from the National Association of Realtors.
Homes sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million units last month, the slowest pace since November 2015 — with the exception of a three-month plunge at the start of the Covid pandemic.
“We're witnessing a housing recession in terms of declining home sales and home building,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
As mortgage rates climb, a rising number of homebuyers are backing out of contracts, and homebuilder cancellation rates have more than doubled since April.
What else we’re watching:
- The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie on stage during a lecture last week has been indicted by a grand jury, officials said.
- Extreme drought conditions are expanding in the Northeast, across Rhode Island and toward central Massachusetts and easternmost Connecticut, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
- The White House announced it is speeding up its monkeypox response, by making 1.8 million more vaccine doses available for order beginning Monday.
- The CDC is investigating a “fast-moving” E. coli outbreak in the Midwest, that’s sickened at least 29 people so far.
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