- Trump has asked the Supreme Court to rule on his dispute over the records seized at Mar-a-Lago.
- His lawyers asked Judge Clarence Thomas for an emergency order regarding 100 classified documents.
- Thomas ordered the Justice Department to respond by October 11.
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a dispute over classified records seized by the FBI during a search of his South Florida residence and private club, arguing that a federal appeals court wrongly excluded them from a third party. opinion of the arbitrator.
Trump’s High Court appeal marked the latest salvo in the former president’s growing legal battle with the Justice Department over the seizure of more than 11,000 Mar-a-Lago records, some of which were classified top secret. The FBI court-authorized search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the former president’s handling of national security information and possible obstruction of justice.
In a court filing on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the legal dispute and keep around 100 classified documents under the authority of an outside reviewer – known as a special master – appointed to filter files that could be covered by a lawyer. client or manager privilege.
The request came two weeks after the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the Justice Department should have access to the 100-plus classified records, reversing Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to include these documents in the special main examination and to terminate their use in the criminal investigation.
In their filing, Trump’s attorneys refrained from asking the Supreme Court to block the Justice Department from reviewing those classified records. The former president’s legal team instead sought a more limited remedy, only proposing that the cases also fall under the special master’s review to instill public confidence and ensure the fairness of the investigation.
Indeed, as Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, has pointed out, TwitterTrump’s appeal to the Supreme Court was not only “doomed” but also “unlikely to accomplish much even if successful.”
Trump’s legal team said in its Supreme Court filing on Tuesday that the 11th Circuit’s decision undermined “the integrity of the well-established policy against piecemeal appellate review” and ignored the “wide discretion without justification” from Cannon.
“This wrongful stay should be rescinded as it significantly interferes with the ongoing and urgent work of the Special Master,” the filing reads. “Furthermore, any limits on the full and transparent review of documents seized in the extraordinary search of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our justice system.”
Trump’s attorneys have submitted their case to Judge Clarence Thomas, who is responsible for overseeing emergency requests arising from the 11th Circuit. Thomas asked the Justice Department to file a response by Oct. 11.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, has come under fire for granting the former president’s request to appoint an outside special master to review records the former president has accumulated at his South Florida estate. In the move, which temporarily blocked the Justice Department from reviewing the records as part of its criminal investigation, legal experts said Cannon was showing unusual solicitude for the president who nominated her to the post. federal judiciary in 2020.
The Justice Department appealed its decision to the 11th Circuit, where a three-judge panel rejected the possibility that the former president may have an “individual interest in or need for” the more than 100 classified records seized at Mar-a-Lago.
The 11th Circuit panel, made up of two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee, also appeared to accept the Justice Department’s argument that any further delays in reviewing classified records could cause a ” irreparable harm” to the government and the public.
“It stands to reason that the public has a vested interest in ensuring that the storage of classified documents does not result in ‘unusually serious harm to national security,'” the 11th Circuit judges wrote.
Cannon appointed Raymond Dearie, a senior federal trial court judge in Brooklyn, as special master. In response to Trump’s baseless suggestion that the FBI “planted” evidence, Dearie ordered the former president’s legal team to submit an affidavit stating whether they believed federal agents had summarized inaccurately the items seized at Mar-a-Lago.
But last week, Cannon spared Trump having to back up the allegations with filed evidence, ruling that his appointment of a special master “did not contemplate that obligation” incumbent on the former president. Cannon also extended the deadline for the special main review to December 16.
Dearie previously had to complete her exam by November 30.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.