Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents already examined by FBI, Justice Dept. tells judge
A ‘filter team’ has completed its review of material possibly covered by attorney-client privilege, the court filing says
FBI agents have already finished their examination of possibly privileged documents seized in an Aug. 8 search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, according to a Justice Department court filing Monday that could undercut the former president’s efforts to have a special master appointed to review the files.
The “filter team” used by the Justice Department to sort through the documents and weed out any material that should not be reviewed by criminal investigators has completed its review, the brief filed by Justice Department prosecutors says. The filing came in response to
a decision Saturday by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon to hold a hearing this week on Trump’s motion seeking the appointment of a special master.
The new government filing says prosecutors will provide more information later this week. But in the meantime, it notes that even before the judge’s weekend ruling, the filter team “identified a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information, completed its review of those materials, and is in the process of following the procedures” spelled out in the search warrant to handle any privilege disputes.
Trump’s legal team
filed the request two weeks after the Aug. 8 search, calling the court-approved law enforcement action a “shockingly aggressive,” politically motivated raid. The former president’s lawyers claimed that federal authorities seized records to which they had no legal right.
But their motion centered on the assertion that much of the seized material contained presidential communications, and was therefore shielded by executive privilege — a claim that the Justice Department has yet to acknowledge is valid. Executive privilege is usually invoked to shield communications from Congress or the courts, not another branch of the executive government, such as the Justice Department. The Monday filing says only that the filter team has reviewed the documents for attorney-client privilege.
Trump's secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago
Although Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020, said she was inclined to appoint a special master, she also said her order “should not be construed as a final determination on Plaintiff’s Motion.”
Federal authorities took about two dozen boxes of materials from Mar-a-Lago during the search, including 11 sets of classified documents, several of them categorized as top secret. Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers Friday that U.S. intelligence analysts will conduct a review of the classified materials to determine the potential risk to national security if their contents were disclosed.
Trump’s lawyers want a special master, essentially an outside expert, to return any information taken from Trump’s property that went beyond the scope of the search warrant, and to set aside any material that should be shielded from government review because of executive privilege.
Neither the Trump filing nor the government’s brief response address the separate question of whether a special master, if appointed, could or should review the classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI.
Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents and the 'myth' of presidential security clearance
In her ruling Saturday, Cannon instructed the Justice Department to submit under seal a more detailed list of the materials taken by the FBI. She also asked for an update on the federal government’s review. The Justice Department said Monday it would comply. Cannon has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on Trump’s request.
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