A federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s legal motion regarding the Mar-a-Lago raid demanded clarity Tuesday as to what the former president wants.
Trump unveiled a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the Justice Department from reviewing seized documents, but Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump to the post, expressed confusion over what Trump’s legal team is seeking and gave them until Friday to answer five questions about his motion.
TRUMP RETAINED OVER 700 PAGES WORTH OF CLASSIFIED RECORDS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES SAYS
Cannon is overseeing his case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Her five questions center on legal points such as “the precise relief sought” in the case, whether Trump is pursuing an immediate injunction in the matter, and the rationale for why her court would have jurisdiction in the case.
The judge also inquired about the effect of Trump’s demands on the proceedings before Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who authorized the search warrant earlier this month. Reinhart ordered the DOJ to produce a version of the affidavit for the raid with proposed redactions, as well as other documents, to the court on Thursday as he weighs whether to release it to the public.
In her order, which came the day after Trump’s lawyers filed the motion, Cannon stressed she needs answers to those questions to “facilitate appropriate resolution.”
JUST IN: Judge Aileen Cannon responds to Trump lawsuit re: FBI search with a list of more questions for Trump’s team about what, precisely, they’re asking for. pic.twitter.com/zCqsmEf86e
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 23, 2022
“(1) The asserted basis for the exercise of this Court’s jurisdiction, whether legal, equitable/anomalous, or both; (2) the framework applicable to the exercise of such jurisdiction; (3) the precise relief sought, including any request for injunctive relief pending resolution of the Motion; (4) the effect, if any, of the proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart; and (5) the status of Plaintiff’s efforts to perfect service on Defendant,” she wrote in a paperless decision.
In the 27-page filing issued Monday, Trump’s lawyers requested the court appoint a special master to examine the evidence the FBI collected during the Aug. 8 search and seizure at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. They demanded the DOJ halt any review of the documents until a special master is appointed.
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During the August raid, federal authorities reportedly recovered 26 boxes that included documents with classified markings. The raid followed an exchange Trump had with the National Archives and Records Administration in January in which officials recovered 15 boxes of documents and discovered classified material in the stash. The National Archives then referred the matter to the DOJ, which began an investigation that led to the early August search and seizure.
On Tuesday, the National Archives released a letter revealing it obtained over 100 documents with over 700 pages worth of classified material from Trump as of May 2022.
Trump has adamantly denied wrongdoing and decried the raid as an “unAmerican break-in,” among other criticisms. The former president also accused the DOJ of using the raid as a ploy to hinder his possible 2024 ambitions. He may have flouted the Espionage Act and obstructed justice, according to a warrant for the search unsealed Friday. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
