Judge rules Trump lawyers don’t have to clarify Mar-a-Lago document requests

Special master Raymond J. They were not required to comply with Deary and the state’s order, Judge Eileen M. Cannon told Donald Trump’s lawyers Thursday.

Thursday’s ruling was the first clash between Cannon, a Trump appointee who has generally shown deference to the former president in a case related to the Mar-a-Lago investigation, and Deary, the federal judge he appointed as an outside expert on the case. Be more skeptical of Trump.

After Trump’s lawyers requested a special master, Cannon chose dear Review about 11,000 documents seized Aug. 8 from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and home to determine whether any should be protected from investigators because of attorney-client or executive privilege.

An appeals court separately rejected Cannon’s decision to allow 100 additional documents it says the government classified — some of them top secret — to be part of Deary’s review.

Deary told the former president’s legal team last week that he could not suggest in court filings that the government’s description of seized documents — including whether they were classified — was false without providing any evidence. He Ordered to submit Any specific errors in the government’s inventory of seized goods should be sent to the court by October 7.

Special masters and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents: What you need to know

It would have been a key test of Trump’s legal strategy, as his lawyers decide whether to support Trump’s controversial public claims that the FBI stockpiled his home and classified all classified documents before he left office. A more flexible approach.

But according to Canon, who had the power to overrule Deary’s orders, such a decision was now unnecessary.

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“At this point, prior to reviewing any of the seized materials, plaintiff would have no separate requirement to make any final objections to defendant’s inventory, its descriptions, or the accuracy of its contents,” Cannon wrote.

Judiciary may appeal.

Trump’s legal team has argued that questions about whether the inventory and documents are classified should be answered. May harm them In order to avoid a future criminal prosecution or future legal battle over the return of the seized documents to Trump.

While Trump’s defense attorney James M. Trustee told Deary Asked earlier this month that he would not be forced to release more declarations and witness statements, Deary responded: “In my opinion you can’t have your cake and eat it.”

On Thursday, Trump extended the deadline for a special review to December 16, depending on the Trump administration’s ongoing controversies. There were privilege issues.

Deary suggested working on an even faster schedule and told the parties to complete parts of the review by October 21. The Trump team pushed back against that deadline, saying it was too fast and they couldn’t afford it. Find a vendor to scan documents that was willing to work on that timeline.

Materials on foreign country’s nuclear capabilities seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

“This modest extension is necessary to allow sufficient time for special post-examination review and recommendations, which have been evolving since the entry of the appointment order,” Cannon wrote in his order.

When Canon decided to appoint a special master, he said that the review should include the seized secret documents. He also barred the Justice Department access to classified documents pending a review of the criminal investigation.

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But the Judiciary Successfully appealed Part of that decision came last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that classified material should not be part of a special prima facie review and that the FBI can use it immediately.

Trump’s lawyers have argued in court filings against the Justice Department’s appeal, saying the government has “yet to prove” that the documents in the case are classified.

The Washington Post It is stated that in classified items The FBI obtained from Mar-a-Lago a document detailing a foreign government’s military security, including its nuclear capabilities, people familiar with the search said on condition of anonymity to describe key details of the ongoing investigation.

Some documents were so restricted that only the president, a few members of his cabinet or an official close to the cabinet level could authorize other government officials to know details about them, the people said. A government filing noted that counterintelligence FBI agents and prosecutors investigating the Mar-a-Lago documents were not initially authorized to review some of the seized material.

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