Trump’s legal team was delivered a victory when Judge Cannon ruled in favor of having a special master review the documents.
The Biden Justice Department was not at all happy about this ruling.
Now the DOJ is trying to pull a fast one with the seized documents.
Before the special master has even been appointed, The Justice Department has filed an appeal and is seeking a “partial stay” that would allow them to start reviewing the documents seized.
Trump’s legal team has filed a motion opposing this stating that the DOJ is seeking to “limit the scope of any review of its investigative conduct and presuppose the outcome, at least in regard to what it deems are ‘classified records.’”
“This investigation of the 45th President of the United States is both unprecedented and misguided,” Trump’s lawyers said in the filing. “In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records.”
The purpose of the special master is to ensure that any material that falls under attorney-client privilege or executive privilege are weeded out.
Included among the documents seized are Trump’s personal documents including medical records and tax filings.
Of course, since the DOJ is essentially acting as a political attack dog for the Biden administration, they aren’t happy at all about having any of the documents excluded.
It is clear that the purpose of this “investigation” is to prevent Trump from running again, using anything they can come up with.
What is actually classified?
There is dispute whether or not many of the materials were actually classified.
Trump’s legal team is arguing that the materials have been declassified.
While Trump was President, he had the legal authority to declassify anything.
The Justice Department, in its motion last week, contended that Trump could have no interest in the “purported ‘classified records,’” Trump’s lawyers explained, saying however that the government “has not proven that these records remain classified.”
Even assuming they were classified, the government arguing that they were somehow compromised is quite a stretch.
“Indeed, it appears such ‘classified records,’ along with the other seized materials, were principally located in storage boxes in a locked room at Mar-a-Lago, a secure, controlled access compound utilized regularly to conduct the official business of the United States during the Trump Presidency, which to this day is monitored by the United States Secret Service,” Trump’s lawyers said.
Trump’s lawyers also argued that the Presidential Records Act “extraordinary discretion to categorize all his or her records as either Presidential or personal records, and established case law provides for very limited judicial oversight over such categorization.”
They also note that the PRA does not allow for criminal enforcement.
Both the DOJ and Trump’s legal teams have submitted two names to serve as special master.
If the parties cannot agree on who will fill the role, Judge Cannon can appoint someone.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
