- US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in Florida, granted Trump’s request for a special master.
- Earlier this week, US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in Florida, granted Trump’s request for a special master.
- Her order prevents prosecutors from reviewing the seized records as part of their criminal investigation for the time being.
The US Justice Department and Donald Trump’s legal team On Friday, were expected to jointly file a list of potential candidates to serve as a “special master” to review the records seized by the FBI from the former president’s home.
Earlier this week, US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in Florida, granted Trump’s request for a special master. Her order prevents prosecutors from reviewing the seized records as part of their criminal investigation for the time being.
On Thursday, the department asked Cannon to suspend two major parts of her order: it wants to continue reviewing the seized classified materials for its ongoing investigation and to keep them from being disclosed to a special master.
It also warned that some classified materials could still be missing, despite the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8.
The investigation is focused on whether Trump improperly removed classified records from the White House and stored them at his Palm Beach home, as well as whether he unlawfully attempted to obstruct the investigation by concealing or removing some of the records when the FBI attempted to collect them with a grand jury subpoena in June.
Whoever is appointed as special master must weed out anything that should be kept from prosecutors due to attorney-client privilege or executive privilege – a legal doctrine that protects some White House communications from disclosure.
Last year, the Supreme Court denied Trump’s request to keep White House records from a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot by his supporters. After consulting with the Justice Department, the US National Archives informed Trump’s lawyers earlier this year that he could not use executive privilege to shield the records from the FBI.
Democratic and Republican legal experts have both criticised Cannon’s order. Because the records are not Trump’s personal property and he is no longer president, attorneys have questioned her decision to include an executive privilege review.
The individual would potentially need a top-level security clearance, to be an expert on executive privilege, and to be willing to take on a highly visible role that would thrust him or her into the political spotlight.
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