Judge Raymond Dearie on Monday released a draft plan to both sides seeking details of documents Trump allegedly declassified, as he has claimed publicly and without evidence, though his lawyers have not supported that in court filings. In a letter filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Trump’s lawyers argued that it was not the time and would force him to disclose a defense in any subsequent indictment — an acknowledgment that the investigation could lead to criminal charges.
Read more: Joe Biden says top-secret documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate cause concern
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Joe Biden says top-secret documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate cause concern
Dearie, a senior federal judge in Brooklyn, was selected as an independent arbitrator known as a special master. It will help decide which of the more than 11,000 documents seized in the Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home should be preserved from the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the alleged mishandling of the documents. Story continues below ad Dearie will recommend to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon which documents may fall under the attorney-client privilege, or executive privilege claim, which allows the president to withhold certain documents or information. It is unclear whether the review will proceed as directed by Cannon, the Florida judge appointed to the seat by Trump in 2020, who ordered the review. Trump is under investigation for keeping government records, some classified as top secret, at his Palm Beach resort home after he leaves office in January 2021. He has denied wrongdoing and said, without providing evidence, that believes the investigation is a partisan attack. Trending Stories
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The Justice Department appealed part of Cannon’s ruling on Friday, seeking to halt the judge’s review of about 100 classified documents and limit the FBI’s access to them. 1:37 Congressional briefing on Mar-a-Lago documents is critical to understanding how much intelligence is at risk, senator says Congressional briefing on Mar-a-Lago documents is critical to understanding amount of intelligence at risk, says Senator – September 11, 2022 Federal prosecutors said the special master review ordered by the judge would prevent the government from addressing national security risks and force the disclosure of “highly sensitive material.” Story continues below ad On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team filed its response with the Atlanta-based U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, opposing the government’s request and calling the Justice Department’s investigation “unprecedented and misguided.” In their 40-page filing, Trump’s lawyers said the court should not consider the Justice Department’s finding that the roughly 100 documents at issue are in fact still classified and said the special master should be able to review them as a step in the direction of “restoring order from chaos”. With Cannon’s order to appoint Dearie as special master, he asked him to complete his review by the end of November. She instructed him to prioritize documents marked classified, although her process requires Trump’s counsel to review the documents and Trump’s lawyers may not have the necessary security clearance.
Read more: US says Trump may still be holding classified documents, appeals special ruling
The Justice Department has described the special master proceeding as unnecessary because it has already conducted its own review of attorney-client privilege and set aside about 500 pages that could qualify. He opposes a review of executive privilege, saying any such claim about the records would fail. The August FBI probe came after Trump left office with government-owned documents and has not returned them, despite numerous government requests and subpoenas. Story continues below ad It is not yet clear whether the government has all the records. The Justice Department said some classified material may still be missing after the FBI discovered empty classified folders from Mar-a-Lago.
