The Justice Department has proposed a system for the special master to review documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
In her ruling denying prosecutors’ request for a stay last week, Judge Eileen Cannon ordered the special master’s review to be completed by the end of November. The review includes approximately 11,000 documents.
In order for both the Trump team and prosecutors to review the evidence simultaneously, prosecutors proposed in a filing Monday that the documents be uploaded to a third-party online platform.
The Justice Department suggested the third-party vendor “order” documents on a rolling basis as they are scanned to both prosecutors and Trump’s defense team. Attorneys should plan to sort about 500 documents each business day, the DOJ said.
As the review begins, prosecutors suggested U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master, hold “weekly reviews” with both parties to “resolve questions and ensure the smooth running of the review process.”
The department also said it would recommend a protective order for Cannon’s approval, which makes leaking details from the seized collection punishable by contempt of court “or any other legally available sanction the Court deems appropriate.”
In its filing, the DOJ noted that if the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants its request to block portions of Cannon’s order that require a special master, Dearie would not be able to review the more than 100 documents marked classified.
“If the Eleventh Circuit does not halt consideration of the redacted documents, the government will suggest a path forward,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
A preliminary conference is scheduled before Dearie on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
