A federal judge agreed Monday to appoint a special master to review records seized by the FBI during an unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, a move that is likely to delay his ongoing criminal investigation. Ministry of Justice. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in West Palm Beach, Florida, granted Trump’s request for a special master, whom she said would be tasked with reviewing documents that would otherwise be covered by the attorney-client privilege. they could also be covered by executive privilege. He also ordered the Justice Department to stop reviewing the records as part of its criminal investigation, a move that will likely at least temporarily hinder its ability to continue the investigation. But Cannon said she would allow U.S. intelligence officials to continue conducting a classification review, as well as a national security damage assessment. Cannon’s decision to allow a special master to review documents that could be covered by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that can protect some White House records from disclosure, was unprecedented. If the special master rules that some of the material is covered by Trump’s claims of executive privilege, it could hamper the administration’s investigation. Cannon rejected the government’s argument against appointing a special master to review material potentially covered by executive privilege. The Justice Department had said the files belonged to the government and that Trump was no longer president. “The government contends that executive privilege has no role to play here because the plaintiff — a former head of the executive branch — is completely precluded from successfully asserting executive privilege against the current executive branch,” wrote Cannon, who was appointed by Trump only in 2020. months before he leaves office. “In the court’s estimation, this position arguably overstates the law,” he said. Cannon gave Trump’s legal team and the Justice Department until Friday to file a proposed list of special nominees. “The United States is reviewing the opinion and will consider appropriate next steps in the ongoing litigation,” said Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley. It’s unclear whether the Justice Department will appeal Cannon’s decision, or even if it has the legal ability to do so. In its previous legal filings, the Justice Department also said the federal court for the Southern District of Florida lacks jurisdiction to hear Trump’s claims. Trump’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment. However, in a post on his Truth Social platform after Cannon’s ruling, Trump wrote: “Remember, it takes courage and ‘guts’ to fight a totally corrupt Department of ‘Justice’ and the FBI.” Trump, without evidence, has accused the Justice Department of launching a partisan witch hunt against him, and his lawyers have argued that appointing an independent third party to review the materials would be an important check on the administration. Trump is under investigation for removing government records, some classified as top secret, from the White House after he left in January 2021 and storing them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. The Justice Department said it is also investigating possible obstruction after the FBI revealed evidence that Trump’s team may have intentionally withheld classified documents when agents tried to retrieve them in June. At the same meeting on June 3, Trump representatives falsely asserted that they had conducted a thorough investigation and returned all classified material to the government — a claim that was later disproved after the FBI discovered some 33 boxes containing more than 11,000 government records and photographs and more . over 100 records marked as classified. Trump’s legal team waited two weeks after the FBI probe on Aug. 8 before asking the court to appoint a special master — an independent third party sometimes assigned in sensitive cases to review material that could be covered by attorney privilege – customer. A special master was used, for example, to review materials seized during searches of the homes and offices of two of Trump’s former lawyers – Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen. In addition to arguing against appointing a special master to review material potentially covered by executive privilege, the Justice Department argued that there was no point in appointing a special master because its filter team—a group of agents not involved in the investigation—had completed the his work. Agents located and removed about 520 pages that could be subject to attorney-client privilege, prosecutors said at a Sept. 1 hearing. The remaining files have already been reviewed by the investigative team for the ongoing criminal investigation. In her ruling Monday, Cannon said she has ongoing concerns about the way the Justice Department conducted its privilege review, saying she was aware of at least two cases in which members of the investigative team were exposed to materials later classified as potentially privileged. . “These cases alone, even if completely unintentional, raise questions about the adequacy of the filter review process,” he wrote. Many former Justice Department lawyers, both Democrats and Republicans, criticized Trump’s call for a special master. In a brief phone interview Monday, former Trump-appointed Attorney General Bill Barr argued against using a special master to review material potentially covered by executive privilege. “I don’t think a special master makes sense in relation to executive privilege material,” Barr told Reuters. “If the documents are subject to executive privilege,” he said, “they involve official discussions about executive actions, and by definition, those documents belong to the government.” Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
