- The Washington Times - Monday, December 19, 2016

A federal judge on Monday ordered the administration to release the search warrant that the FBI used to probe Huma Abedin’s emails in the waning days of the presidential election — a move that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s team is blaming for her loss.

Judge P Kevin Castel said the warrant and the accompanying affidavit will be released by the court at noon on Tuesday.

He also allowed the Justice Department to shield the names of the FBI agents who were involved in the probe, and ordered that names of two people who haven’t been charged with any crimes but who appear in the documents also be shielded.

But he said the public’s right to know about the details of the FBI’s election-season probe overcome Mrs. Clinton’s own privacy rights.

“The documents that are the subject of the application corroborate the existence of an investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails. The strong presumption of access attached to the search warrant and related materials is not overcome by any remaining privacy interest of Secretary Clinton,” he said.

Obama administration lawyers had initially opposes releasing the documents, but withdrew their opposition late last week.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

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