Justice Dept: ‘Unnecessary’ Special Master in Trump Mar-a-Lago Case Would 'Significantly Harm' Gov
03:45 GMT 31.08.2022 (Updated: 04:04 GMT 31.08.2022)
© AFP 2023 / GIORGIO VIERA
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Last week, Trump's legal team asked the court to appoint a third party to examine some of the records that the FBI had obtained from the raid at his Florida residence. And a federal judge in Florida has said she intends to name a special master to analyze some of the records the FBI confiscated.
In response to the former president Donald Trump's lawsuit asking for the appointment of a special master to examine documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department late Tuesday filed its response in court.
The DOJ stated Trump should not be permitted to intervene in the federal investigation that resulted in the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and that the case should not have a "special master" appointed.
"Even if the Court had jurisdiction to entertain Plaintiff’s claims, appointment of a special master is unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests," the filing says. "Appointment of a special master is disfavored in a case such as this. In any event, the government’s filter team has already completed its work of segregating any seized materials that are potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, and the government’s investigative team has already reviewed all of the remaining materials, including any that are potentially subject to claims of executive privilege."
The agency added that the special master's appointment would be "particularly inappropriate" because the former president's claim that review of these materials by staff members within the Executive Branch raises any such privilege concerns is barred by binding Supreme Court precedent.
NEW: The Department of Justice filing submitted tonight includes a photo showing the obvious classification markings on documents seized at Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/nVKAVXD9sT
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 31, 2022
Trump lacks authority over presidential records, according to the Justice Department, because they are regarded as government property and don't belong to him. The DOJ petition says that "[t]he United States" has "complete ownership, possession, and control" of them, as specified by the Presidential Records Act.
In turn, Trump has contended that some of the records that were seized earlier this month contain information that is protected by privilege, including executive privilege, and that his constitutional rights have been infringed.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who has previously stated she is likely to accept Trump's request for third party scrutiny of materials the FBI confiscated Mar-a-Lago, ordered the Justice Department to file the brief earlier.
Since the search on August 8, some previously confidential court files the DOJ made to get the warrant have been partially made public.
The search was related to a DOJ investigation into alleged breaches of the Espionage Act, criminal mismanagement of federal records, and obstruction of justice, according to the redacted materials. In 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives in January, 184 documents were determined to have classified marks, some of which were identified as very sensitive government records, according to an FBI affidavit made public last week.
