A federal judge on Monday acknowledged that former President Donald Trump’s legal team had asked to appoint a special master to investigate documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home last month. has temporarily stopped using the records of
A decision by U.S. District Court Judge Eileen Cannon said outside legal experts were not needed, despite the Department of Justice’s objections. What’s the harm?”
The appointment could slow the pace of the DOJ’s investigation into the presence of top-secret information on Mar-a-Lago, following a judge’s direction that the DOJ will not use seized materials for investigative purposes for the time being. There is a nature. However, it is not clear whether it will have a material impact on the investigation’s decision or the final outcome of the investigation.
Cannon, who was named to the bench by Trump in 2020, said he would allow the document risk assessments being conducted by U.S. intelligence agencies to continue.
Trump’s attorneys argued that a special master, usually an outside attorney or former judge, was needed to ensure an independent review of the records taken during the Aug. 8 raid. It did so to exclude personal information and documents recovered by the FBI and return them to Mr. Trump, and to separate documents protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege from the rest. They said they needed a thorough review. of investigation.
The Department of Justice has already reviewed potentially privileged documents and has identified a limited subset of the material subject to attorney and client privilege, stating that it is unnecessary. opposed to nomination.
He also said Trump has no right to return the taken presidential records because he is no longer president and the documents do not belong to him. The recovered personal items were also mixed with sensitive information, giving them potential value as evidence, the ministry said.
Eric Tucker