Former President Trump’s legal team said in a court filing Monday that classified materials should not be excluded from the special master’s review of documents found during an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“The Government has not proven these records remain classified,” Trump’s attorney stated in their filing. “That issue is to be determined later.”
The Department of Justice told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon last week that it would appeal to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by Thursday if she allows a third party special master to analyze classified documents as part of its review of the more than 11,000 records and materials taken during the court-approved Aug. 8 search, which is aimed at weeding out any materials that might be protected by claims of attorney-client or executive privilege.
Cannon approved Trump’s request for the outside legal review last week, temporarily preventing the department from using the documents as part of its criminal investigation. She agreed to allow a national security review of the documents to continue, but enjoined the Justice Department from using the materials until the special master’s review is complete.
But the department said in a filing last week that Trump has no reasonable claim over classified documents, which belong to the government, and the national security review cannot reasonably move forward unless the FBI can participate.
