DOJ Appeals to Regain Access to Documents Seized at Mar-a-Lago

The Department of Justice is appealing a decision made by a federal judge to have a third-party special master review the documents and materials seized by the FBI during the search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, last month.

Trump’s legal team pushed for a special master to be appointed to regain seized documents and materials that might fall under the protection of attorney-client privilege as well as executive privilege. The DOJ, at present, is barred from examining the seized materials until the special master conducts their review. In the appeal, the DOJ argues that the sensitive nature of the seized materials, many of which bear classified markings, make it necessary that they be allowed to have access to them immediately for purposes of national security. Additionally, they questioned Trump’s invocation of executive privilege.

In the filed motion, the DOJ requested that the judge allow them to review the materials with classified markings, as those “will cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public. The classified records—a discrete set of just over 100 documents—have already been segregated from the other seized records and are being maintained separately.”

Coverage of the appeal’s filing was seen more from the left. Outlets across the spectrum mentioned in varying degrees that the judge that granted the Trump team motion to seek a special master, Judge Aileen Cannon, was appointed by Trump during his presidency.