US Federal Court likely to endorse Donald Trump’s request for Mar-a-Lago ‘special master’
A federal judge is scheduled to hear Donald Trump’s request of appointing a “special master” who will filter the details meant for the public on Tuesday.
A day after an FBI released affidavit claimed former US President Donald Trump kept classified documents, including 25 ‘top secret’, a federal judge is scheduled to hear Trump’s request of appointing a “special master” who will filter the details meant for the public on Tuesday.
Though the idea was floated by Trump nearly a week ago, a federal judge said she is inclined to grant Trump’s request to bring in an outsider to oversee the review, Politico reported. As of now, the FBI has unlimited authority to search the entire document that is collectively stored with the “suspicious box” recovered from Trump’s Florida-based residence. Trump’s lead counsel for the matter, James Trusty during a talk show claimed he wishes to ‘limit’ their power. Further, he said Trump wants law enforcement agents should be barred from publicly revealing the content of the seized or classified documents .
Meanwhile, US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, in her brief order, directed the US Justice Department (DOJ) to produce a more detailed list of items seized from Trump’s residence on August 8. She directed the DOJ to submit all details by Tuesday, August 30. In the order, she also demanded the current status of the government’s ongoing review of the materials recovered from the Mar-a-Lago raid.
Notably, on August 8, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant of the Mar-a-Lago estate with an aim of recovering “highly classified” documents which were in Trump’s possession even after he left the White House post losing the Presidential elections.
Trump claims affidavit heavily redacted
According to the affidavit released by the FBI on August 26, it recovered at least 14 “secret boxes” from Trump’s residence. As per the court, the 45th President was not authorised to store highly confidential papers at his Mar-a-Lago residence. “No space at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was authorised for the storage of classified material,” read the court papers. Soon after the release of the documents, Trump criticised the judge and said he could not have approved the search warrant.
“Affidavit heavily redacted!!! Nothing mentioned on ‘Nuclear,’ a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOJ, or our close working relationship regarding document turnover – WE GAVE THEM MUCH [sic],” Trump said in a statement via social media. He further reiterated that the judge must not clear the search warrant that listed potential violations of the Espionage Act involving the mishandling of classified materials.
