WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department decided on Friday to fast-track its appeal of an order appointing a special master to review records the FBI seized from the estate of former President Donald Trump in Florida.
In a filing late Friday, the Justice Department said its inability to access unclassified documents still hampered important aspects of its investigation into the retention of government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Justice Department is asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to order that all documents be filed in the case by Nov. 11 and to hold any necessary hearings in the case as soon as that briefing is complete.
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Trump’s lawyers oppose the request, the government said. Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said in an email, “After having weeks to prepare its case, the DOJ is now choosing an unnecessary fight over a nine-day difference in filing deadlines.”
The Justice Department said that because it is currently barred from accessing the approximately 11,000 unclassified documents seized in the search, it cannot review documents that were stored with the classified documents.
The government said the unclassified documents “could shed light” on how the documents were transferred or stored at the Mar-a-Lago estate, and who might have had access to them.
The records could also serve as evidence of violations of federal obstruction and concealment or suppression of government records laws, according to Friday’s filing.
The Justice Department said an expedited timeline could allow the government, if it wins the appeal, “to more quickly resume its full investigation without restrictions on its review and use of evidence seized under a legal search warrant”.
Government attorneys added that if the Atlanta Court of Appeals rules in favor of the Justice Department, it would end the litigation over the documents seized in the search as well as the outside review of those documents.
That review, led by the special master, U.S. Senior District Judge Raymond Dearie, is currently due to end on December 16.
This month, the appeals court sided with the Justice Department in overturning parts of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that barred the department from relying on classified documents taken when researching as part of its investigation, such as posting sensitive records, the contents of witness interviews or presenting charges before a grand jury.
The 11th Circuit also blocked Dearie from accessing classified records as part of its proceedings.
On Sept. 5, Cannon granted Trump’s request for this third-party review of seized documents, despite objections from the Justice Department. That process has already been delayed, as Trump and the government have not yet been able to secure a contract with an outside vendor to host the documents for the review.
Cannon also on Thursday rejected Dearie’s instruction asking Trump to verify the list of documents extracted from the property, after the former president’s lawyers argued that the requirement was not within the master’s special authority.
Trump claimed without evidence that FBI agents planted evidence while searching his compound on Aug. 8, but his lawyers did not repeat the same claims in court.
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Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Rami Ayyub and Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington; Additional reporting by Mike Scarcella in Maryland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler
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