Former President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the Mar-a-Lago case, following an Appeals Court ruling that prevented a ‘special master’ from reviewing Classified documents seized from the President’s Club of Florida.
Trump wants to return to a process in which a chief judge acting as a special master scrutinizes the material seized in the raid of his Flordia club to adjudicate Trump’s claims about material the former president considers privileged.
That could allow Trump to use that review to bounce certain material marked “classified” or even “top secret” out of the hands of government investigators as part of his investigation related to the removal and retention of government national security documents. .
Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Clarence Thomas to issue an order overturning the appeals court’s decision on an emergency basis. Thomas, who has emerged to lead the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, oversees the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals as a Circuit Judge, though he could send the matter to the full court.
It’s just the latest twist in the fight that has worked its way through the courts and thrust Trump’s legal troubles back into the spotlight in the run-up to the November election.
After Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon appointed a “special master” to review material seized during the FBI’s search, the Justice Department turned to the 11th Circuit seeking to overturn part of her ruling.
‘Did they throw anything in those piles? Or did they do it later? There is no chain of custody here with them,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
They sought to end parts of the warrant that require the special master to review classified documents, with about 100 documents marked classified seized in an Aug. 8 search, and where Trump asserted claims of privilege.
The Justice Department argued that those documents were government property and that Trump should not be allowed claims of executive privilege against them, while claiming to keep the attorney-client documents out of government hands.
The government prevailed, even as the special master retained his leading role. District Judge Raymond Dearie, who was recommended by the Trump team, remains in office. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel ruled in favor of the Justice Department.
Trump’s team argued that any interference with the review of the material, coming amid Trump’s own claim of privilege, “erodes public confidence in our justice system.”
Legal experts noted Tuesday that the Trump team did not seek to throw out another part of the appeals court ruling: that the Justice Department could continue to use classified materials in its investigation.
Trump’s lawyers filed the 296-page filing seeking to overturn part of the appeals court’s latest order.
They argue that it compromises “the integrity of the well-established policy against piecemeal appellate review and ignoring the broad discretion of the District Court without justification.”
Just as the Justice Department argued that Trump’s tactic could interfere with a government investigation under the Espionage Act, the Trump team argues that it could harm the special master’s role.
The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8 and recovered about 100 classified documents.
The appeal comes as a special master has begun to establish a process to review material seized from Mar-a-Lago.
Donald Trump’s lawyers seek to take the case to the Supreme Court
The former president has repeatedly attacked the raid and even suggested that FBI agents may have planted material.
“This unjustified suspension should be rescinded as it substantially impairs the ongoing and urgent work of the Special Master,” they wrote.
“Furthermore, any limits on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary search of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our justice system.”
The 11th Circuit ‘lacked jurisdiction’ to review the Special Master Order,’ they wrote.
In a footnote, Trump’s lawyers quote Justice Ketanji-Brown Jackson, who sat in the high court for the first time on Monday.
As Justice Jackson recognized long ago, the wheels of justice turn ignominiously to a stop when a person, not just the incumbent administration’s political rival, is targeted for “being attached to the wrong political views” or “being unpopular with the incumbents. or government group”,’ they write.
Trump’s Supreme Court filing was signed by four of his attorneys: Lindsey Halligan, Chris Kise, Evan Corcoran and James Trusty. Kise is reportedly working on a $3 million advance.
Trump’s lawyers defended Justice Cannon’s original appointment of a special master, who was confirmed just weeks before Trump left office, in a move some legal experts doubted would happen.
‘The unprecedented circumstances presented by this case, an investigation of the forty-fifth president of the United States by the administration of his political rival and successor, compelled the District Court to recognize the significant need for increased oversight and order the appointment of a special Magistrate to guarantee fairness, transparency and the maintenance of public trust’, they write.
Trump himself launched another attack on the National Archives and Records Administration, which handles presidential records, on Tuesday.
‘There is no security in NARA. I want my documents back! he he complained.
