DOJ Asks Court To Stop Special Master From Reviewing Classified Trump Mar-A-Lago Documents

Topline

The Department of Justice asked a federal judge Thursday to reconsider part of her decision siding with former President Donald Trump in the battle over documents seized from Mar-A-Lago, arguing she should allow the DOJ to to continue to review classified documents so it can evaluate possible national security vulnerabilities.

Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 31.

Key Facts

The DOJ asked U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon to allow the government to continue to review classified documents even as it complies with the rest of her order for a “special master” — or independent third party — to review the other documents seized in the raid, and said if she does not do so by September 15, it will appeal the case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Justice Department argued that the government must be able to assess any possible harm caused by “the possible unauthorized disclosure of the classified records.”

In a ruling Monday, Cannon sided with Trump’s motion for a special master to review the more than 11,000 materials the DOJ took from Mar-A-Lago in August and identify any materials that are shielded by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, stopping the DOJ from moving forward with its review of the materials until the special master’s work is complete.

Cannon shot down the government’s earlier arguments that a special master was unnecessary because the documents seized belong to the National Archives and not to Trump, and that the review wasn’t warranted given the DOJ has already reviewed all the documents itself and identified materials covered by attorney-client privilege.

She ruled that some of the materials did in fact belong to Trump and that a special master was necessary to prevent “reputational harm” to Trump if privileged materials led him to be indicted, and she disagreed with the DOJ’s argument that Trump cannot shield materials under executive privilege from the actual executive branch.

Surprising Fact

Legal experts have widely criticized Cannon’s order and decision to block an ongoing government investigation, describing the ruling and the judge’s reasoning to the New York Times as “deeply problematic,” “radical,” “laughably bad” and “genuinely unprecedented.”

Chief Critic

Trump criticized the DOJ for its intention to appeal the ruling on Thursday, writing on Truth Social that the DOJ was “going to spend Millions of Dollars, & vast amounts of Time & Energy” on the appeal instead of fighting crime. The former president also praised Cannon—whom he nominated to the federal bench—as “a brilliant and courageous Judge whose words of wisdom rang true throughout our Nation.”

What To Watch For

Trump’s attorneys and the Justice Department are scheduled to present a list of potential special master candidates to the district court on Friday, though it remains to be seen what impact the request for a stay and potential appeal will have on the proceedings.

What We Don’t Know

What effect the ongoing court battle over a special master will have on the investigation. The Justice Department has argued that the special master’s review will impede its investigation by causing a delay, and even if the government ultimately gets an appeals court to rule in their favor, the court proceedings will still likely draw out the probe. Courts will also have to determine whether Trump can shield documents under executive privilege from the White House, which legal experts have said they don’t believe he has the power to do. Vox notes the ongoing legal battle could delay the investigation by “months or even years,” given it’s unclear how long it will take for the appeals court to rule on the case and the possibility it could then go to the Supreme Court.

Key Background

Trump asked Cannon to appoint a special master two weeks after the FBI searched Mar-A-Lago on August 8, after Trump and his attorneys allegedly failed to give back all the White House documents being kept at Mar-A-Lago, including hundreds of classified and top-secret documents. The Justice Department is investigating whether Trump violated three federal statutes by mishandling the government documents, including the Espionage Act, and alleged in court filings it believes the ex-president obstructed the government’s probe by failing to turn over all the documents he had on hand and “conceal[ing]” them even after being served a grand jury subpoena. It was unclear whether the DOJ would appeal Cannon’s ruling in the case, and legal experts speculated to the Times the government could just accept a special master rather than risk the further delays of a prolonged court battle. Other legal experts said they thought the DOJ should appeal the case, however, so as to not let the perceived flaws with Cannon’s ruling stand.