Judge Decision To prove that the FBI "planted" the documents, Trump can disregard the special master's order
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| Image Credit: BBC |
Donald Trump does not have to abide by the special master's order to put up or shut up about his claims that the FBI "planted" information among documents that agents seized from Mar-a-Lago, according to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's decision on Thursday.
The former president's attorneys were given until Friday to confirm or deny an inventory list of items taken by the FBI agents that was provided by the Justice Department, according to Special Master Raymond Dearie, a federal judge who was recommended by Trump's own legal team.
In essence, Dearie's order demanded proof of Trump's assertions that some White House documents agents seized at Mar-a-Lago were "planted." It was a claim that his lawyers specifically never brought up.
Dearie, a former federal prosecutor and current U.S. district judge in Brooklyn, New York, stated in his order that "this submission shall be Plaintiff's final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory."
Trump claimed to have observed agents searching different areas of his Mar-a-Lago residence and resort via security cameras. This raised the possibility that the FBI had also covertly planted evidence at the same time. During the search, two of Trump's attorneys were also present at Mar-a-Lago, and one of them approved a list of the boxes and "miscellaneous top secret documents" that were taken.
Trump's team made an effort to avoid Dearie's request in a letter that was written on Sunday and made public late on Wednesday.
Trump's lawyers wrote, "Plaintiff must object because the special master's case management plan exceeds the grant of authority from the District Court on this issue."
Trump's attorneys would not be required to vouch for the accuracy of the FBI's inventory from Mar-a-Lago before having a chance to examine the records themselves, Cannon agreed in her order on Thursday.
Prior to the review of any of the seized materials, "Plaintiff shall have no separate obligation at this time. That obligation was not considered in the Court's Appointment Order, according to Cannon.
Additionally, she extended from November 30 to December 16 the deadline for reviewing the paperwork that Trump stole from the White House and hid at Mar-a-Lago. The National Archives is supposed to be the custodian of the public records.
Dearie is tasked with going through the various boxes of papers to see if any of them might be covered by executive or attorney-client privilege.
While Dearie seemed to be accelerating the process, Cannon, who Trump appointed to the bench, is delaying it. As a result, any damning information won't be made public until after the midterm elections.
Trump was dealt a blow last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned part of Cannon's earlier stay and decided that the Justice Department can resume reviewing the seized classified records. Dearie was not allowed to review the documents with the designation "classified" by the appeals court.
Following the decision, Cannon modified her own order after receiving criticism for her decision to protect the records seized at Mar-a-Lago in favor of Trump. It now reads, "approximately one hundred documents bearing classification markings no longer constitute material subject to a special master review."