Judge halts prosecutors from using Trump Mar-a-Lago materials for criminal investigation

A judge placed a roadblock on federal prosecutors conducting a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of documents until a special master is appointed and has completed his or her work.

"The Court does not find that a temporary special master review under the present circumstances would cause undue delay" to the investigation, said U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida, granting Trump's motion for a third-party review to look for privileged materials. She said the government is "temporarily enjoined from further review and use of any materials seized from" Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month "for criminal investigative purposes" until the special master's review process is complete.

Trump's legal team argued its client's constitutional rights were violated and that there may have been privileged documents among those taken by federal officials, and the former president is pursuing the appointment of a special master, often an attorney, to review independently the evidence that the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. The Justice Department opposes a third-party review of the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago, warning of the harm such a process could have to national security and the criminal investigation.