Ryan King – Former President Donald Trump does not have to submit a declaration on whether the Justice Department planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago before his legal team reviews the stash, a judge ruled in a victory for his legal team.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon overruled the special master she appointed, who sought a sworn document from Trump’s legal team on whether the DOJ planted evidence. She also pushed back key deadlines for the third-party special master review of material seized.
“There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff at this stage, prior to the review of any of the Seized Materials, to lodge ex ante final objections to the accuracy of Defendant’s Inventory, its descriptions, or its contents. The Court’s Appointment Order did not contemplate that obligation,” Cannon wrote.
In her ruling, she took note of Trump’s lawyers’ concerns that their “current inability to access the Seized Materials” would hinder them from corroborating the DOJ’s inventory of Mar-a-Lago records.
U.S. District Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master in the case, previously directed Trump’s legal team to identify materials that “were not seized from the premises on August 8, 2022.”
Last month, Trump openly pondered on his Truth Social platform whether any evidence was planted during the Aug. 8 raid. But his legal team objected to Dearie’s request for a sworn statement or affidavit on listing planted material.
Ironically, Dearie, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, was one of two candidates Trump’s legal team suggested as a special master. Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the bench, approved Trump’s request for a special master over the DOJ’s objections. Dearie and Trump’s legal team have butted heads on multiple occasions over recent days.
Cannon also tweaked deadlines for the special master review. Trump’s legal team will have until Oct. 5 to find a vendor to scan documents for review. The DOJ will have until Oct. 13 to share copies of the material and until Oct. 14 to give notice of completion. The completion date for the special master’s review was also bumped back to Dec. 16.
Trump’s lawyers sought a special master, a third-party reviewer, to ensure FBI agents did not scoop up privileged material, such as communications with lawyers, during the August raid. The DOJ has previously admitted that its “Privilege Review Team” has found a “limited set” of materials, which may include privileged material, in the confiscated document stash.
Over 11,000 documents, totaling about 200,000 pages of material, were collected during the Aug. 8 search and seizure at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s lawyers revealed in a recent court filing. Roughly 100 pages bore classified markings, including ones that ranged from “CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET information,” according to an affidavit for the raid.
Investigators are evaluating possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice. Trump has adamantly denied wrongdoing, decrying the raid as an “unAmerican break-in” and “witch hunt.”
He has publicly stated that he declassified the documents holed up in his Palm Beach resort, declaring that a president can declassify material “even by thinking about it.” His legal team previously said, “It would be appropriate for the special master to possess a Top Secret/SCI security clearance” to examine the documents.
SF Source Washington Examiner Oct 2022