DOJ appeals independent review of Mar-a-Lago documents

The motion filed by the DOJ seeks immediate access to a hundred or so files seized from Trump's home without waiting for review by the special master appointed to the case.

Published by

Juan Carlos Téllez

17 de septiembre, 2022

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On Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal appeals court to put on hold part of a judge's order appointing a special master to review documents the FBI seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

The DOJ asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the FBI to immediately regain access to about 100 classified documents and not stall their analysis until the newly appointed independent expert is brought in.

The Justice Department did not ask the court to reverse the appointment of the independent arbitrator. Instead, the motion is a partial appeal that would allow prosecutors to continue working with the documents while Raymond Dearie, the special expert appointed by Judge Aileen Cannon, conducts his review.

Prosecutors argued in the motion that Trump could not assert executive privilege over the documents, which are government property. They also urged the court to rule "as soon as possible" on the motion because, in their opinion, the "public would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a stay."

Although the government believes the district court fundamentally erred in appointing a special master and granting injunctive relief, the government seeks to stay only the portions of the order causing the most serious and immediate harm to the government and the public.

Earlier this month, Trump won a major victory when a federal judge ordered a special master to review evidence seized by the FBI during their raid on the former president's Florida estate. Now the Justice Department is fighting back, claiming that delaying the review of these classified documents "impedes the government's efforts to protect national security.”

The new filing with the 11th Circuit accelerates the dispute over Mar-a-Lago's registration all the way to the appeals court and raises the possibility that the Supreme Court may be asked to rule in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, Judge Cannon appointed Special Master Raymond Dearie to review the seized files. Dearie now has until November 30 to review the documentation. The Department of Justice wants to go ahead and conduct their own analysis without waiting for the independent expert's analysis.