“The government is…unable to review documents that have been mixed with materials bearing classification marks, including documents that may shed light, for example, on how materials bearing classification marks were transferred to the plaintiff’s residence, how they were stored, and who may have accessed them,” DOJ officials, including counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt, wrote in the filing with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. of Atlanta. “Recordings not marked as classified may also constitute evidence of [obstruction] and [concealment or removal of government records].”
The Justice Department is seeking an expedited review of its appeal of Cannon’s order establishing the special main review. Although the legal briefing on the appeal was scheduled to continue until mid-December or longer, the expedited schedule proposed by the DOJ would conclude this process in mid-November and oral arguments would be scheduled shortly. soon after.
The filing also hints at prosecutors’ irritation with Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed days after his 2020 election loss. The Justice Department noted that she repeatedly reversed rulings made by the special master she had appointed at Trump’s suggestion, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Dearie. Those decisions could significantly delay Dearie’s review, prosecutors said.
“Based on the District Court’s orders so far, the government is barred from accessing all documents except those bearing classification marks recovered in August under a legal search warrant – and may continue to be barred from doing so until mid-December or later,” the officials wrote, asking the appeals court to rule quickly on legal issues, including Trump’s claims to executive privilege.
“Absent such resolution by this Court, the Master’s Special Procedure could result in protracted litigation, including through sequential appeals to the District Court against reports and recommendations and other decisions rendered by the special master,” prosecutors wrote.
The Justice Department motion also seeks to build on a ruling earlier this month by an 11th Circuit panel that unanimously accepted the government’s request to exclude about 100 documents with classification marks of the special main review. Prosecutors suggest the move may have set a precedent that undermines Cannon’s essential rationale for the review.
Despite press reports that a member of Trump’s legal team, attorney Christopher Kise, has backed out of his involvement in the special main litigation, the new government filing indicates that Kise was the attorney that the Prosecutors have consulted about Trump’s position regarding the government’s request to expedite the appeal. Kise said Trump’s side planned to oppose it, according to the filing.