The Justice Department is set to appear in court on Thursday to argue against requests from former President Donald Trump to appoint a special master to review the evidence seized by the FBI during the agency’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago home last month.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will consider bringing in a third party to oversee the FBI’s investigation, specifically to determine whether any evidence that was obtained should be withheld due to certain executive privileges.
The hearing is scheduled to being at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday. Here’s what we know so far:
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RELEASES PHOTO OF TOP SECRET DOCS FOUND AT TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO
Evidence taken from Mar-a-Lago was likely “concealed and removed,” DOJ says
The Department of Justice has repeatedly pushed back against Trump’s request for a special master to review the evidence, arguing it would pose national security concerns and interfere with its investigations into whether the former president unlawfully took records that belong to the government.
In a bombshell filing released on Tuesday night, the DOJ pointed to evidence that government records were likely “concealed and removed” in order to “obstruct the government’s investigation.” The department also rejected arguments from Trump’s lawyers that the former president can invoke executive privilege to keep federal investigators from looking at the evidence.
The department also called into question Trump’s cooperation with the FBI’s investigation, arguing the former president failed to turn over several requested documents multiple times. After the FBI conducted its Mar-a-Lago raid on Aug. 8, the agency recovered “twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ that the former President’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform,” the DOJ filing read.
Trump accuses DOJ of ‘unjustified pursuit’ of presidential records
Trump responded to the DOJ’s filing on Wednesday, maintaining the seized records are protected under his executive privilege and that he had “declassified” the documents before leaving office.
“Left unchecked, the DOJ will impugn, leak, and publicize selective aspects of their investigation with no recourse for [Trump] but to somehow trust the self-restraint of currently unchecked investigators,” his attorneys wrote.
However, Trump’s legal team did not respond to the Justice Department’s suggestions it had evidence that the records were concealed or hidden.
What else is Trump’s legal team arguing during Thursday’s hearing?
Trump’s legal team also slammed the Department of Justice for submitting a photo that showed papers with classified markings strewn across the floor at Mar-a-Lago, accusing the department of using “allegedly classified materials” to gain “dramatic effect.”
Moreover, the former president’s attorneys brushed off the raid as an “unjustified pursuit of criminalizing a former President’s possession of personal and Presidential records in a secure setting.”
Judge is likely to grant Trump a special master: What’s next?
Cannon, who will preside over the hearing on Thursday, has signaled she is open to granting Trump’s request for a special master.
In a court filing over the weekend, Cannon provided notice of “preliminary intent” to appoint a special master, noting she would make a final decision during the hearing on Thursday. However, she emphasized that her initial ruling would not be considered a final determination.
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If granted, prosecutors are likely to request certain conditions on how the process would work, limiting the special master’s role to avoid impeding the DOJ’s criminal investigation.
“Appointment of a special master to review materials potentially subject to claims of executive privilege would be particularly inappropriate because binding Supreme Court precedent forecloses Plaintiff’s argument that review of these materials by personnel within the Executive Branch raises any such privilege concerns,” the Justice Department said in its Tuesday filing.
