Federal prosecutors have argued for weeks that documents seized from Mar-a-Lago containing distinctive markings — such as “top secret” — should be treated as classified. During a hearing Tuesday, Dearie effectively called Trump’s bluff by pointing out that Trump’s lawyers have yet to provide any evidence of declassification. “If the government gives me prima facie evidence that they are classified documents and you make no claim of declassification, I’m left with a prima facie case of classified documents, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of it,” Diery said. Trump’s lawyer Jim Trusty said they are unable to fully disclose their defense or specifically address the issue of declassification until they see the documents. Trump is before the special master after successfully suing to get the review. His team had suggested Dearie as a possible candidate for the job and was not opposed by the Department of Justice. However, since Dearie took the role, the Trump team has raised some objections to how he planned to approach the review. On Monday, Trump’s lawyers signaled in a letter to Dearie their resistance to making certain disclosures about any moves to declassify the documents. The letter also suggested postponing some of the interim deadlines proposed by Dearie. Dearie is tasked with reviewing the 11,000 documents the FBI seized during its investigation of Mar-a-Lago last month. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who granted Trump’s request for the special master, also blocked the Justice Department from using the seized materials in its criminal investigation while the special master does his work. The Justice Department is currently asking an appeals court to partially halt Cannon’s order as it relates to the roughly 100 classified documents obtained by the FBI during the investigation.
