A judge earlier indicated that she was inclined to grant the Trump legal team’s request for a special master to oversee the review of documents taken by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago to protect documents covered by attorney-client privilege
Former president Donald Trump is also under investigation by the New York attorney general.
(Julia Nikhinson / AP)
The Justice Department has completed its review of potentially privileged documents seized from former president Donald Trump's Florida estate this month and has identified “a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.”
The filing from the department on Monday follows a judge's weekend order indicating that she was inclined to grant the Trump legal team's request for a special master who would oversee the review of documents taken during the August 8 search of the Mar-a-Lago estate and ensure that any that might be protected by claims of legal privilege be set aside.
In revealing that the department had completed its review of potentially privileged communications, law enforcement officials appeared to be suggesting that the appointment of a third-party special master might now be moot. The department had been relying on a specialised team to filter out potentially privileged communications and said Monday that it had completed its review of those materials before the judge's order.
The Justice Department on Friday disclosed that it was investigating Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources – among America's most closely held secrets.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon said on Saturday that it was her “preliminary intent” to appoint a special master — which would be an early procedural win for the Trump legal team — but gave the department an opportunity to respond and scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further.
The judge also directed the Justice Department to submit under seal a more detailed description of the materials that were seized from Trump's estate in Palm Beach, something the department on Monday said it would do.
READ MORE:FBI affidavit shows recovery of secret info led to raid on Trump homeWhite House supports review of content from Trump home
The White House on Monday said it is "appropriate" that the US intelligence community is reviewing potential national security risks if Trump took ultra-sensitive material to his residence after his term ended.
The White House is not involved in that probe of materials recovered during a search of Trump's Florida residence, the Biden administration said.
National Intelligence Director (DNI) Avril Haines said in a letter to lawmakers on Friday that her office is working with the Justice Department to "facilitate a classification review" of documents including those recovered during the August 8 search.
In the letter to lawmakers, Haines said that DNI "will also lead an Intelligence Community (IC) assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents" including those seized. She said the DNI was aiming not to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation.
The FBI's extraordinary search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach ended with the seizure of 11 sets of classified records including some labelled "top secret" as documents that could gravely threaten national security if exposed.
The search was part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed and kept documents when he left office in January 2021 after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden and whether Trump tried to obstruct the probe.
READ MORE:Explainer: Why is Trump facing a presidential records probe?
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2022.
Marco Bello | Reuters
A federal judge in Florida told the Justice Department on Saturday to provide her with more specific information about the classified records removed from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate and said it was her "preliminary intent" to appoint a special master in the case.
The two-page order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signals that she's inclined to grant a request from Trump's lawyers, who this week asked for the appointment of an independent special master to review the records taken from Mar-a-Lago and identify any that may be protected by executive privilege.
The judge scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further. A special master is often a former judge.
Cannon also directed the Justice Department to file under seal with her more detailed descriptions of the material taken from Trump's property. The former president's lawyers have complained that investigators did not disclose enough information to them about what specific documents were removed when agents executed a search warrant on Aug. 8 to look for classified documents.
The special master appointment, if it happens, is unlikely to significantly affect the direction of the Justice Department investigation, though it's possible an outside review of the documents could slow the probe down.
In doing so, the court put the parties on notice that she had a "preliminary intent" to appoint the special master, a third-party attorney who would filter out privileged material seized in the search.
Ahead of the hearing, the government faces a Tuesday deadline to respond to Trump's request in writing, according to the scheduling order from the court.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020, is asking the Department of Justice to file a public response, and additionally file under seal records going into greater detail about what was seized from the search as well as a notice laying out the status of the review of the seized materials, including the process of filtering out privileged information.
Trump's reply to DOJ's response is due Wednesday.
The hearing will be at 1 p.m. ET Thursday at the courthouse in West Palm Beach.
Cannon said at the end of the order that it should not be construed as her final decision on the matter.
On Friday, Trump responded to Cannon's request that he elaborate on his request for the special master by pointing to some additional legal discussion of case law that he said supported his request.
Cannon had identified several shortcomings in his Monday filing requesting more oversight.
Trump's Friday submission came hours after the Justice Department unsealed a redacted version of the affidavit it used to obtain the warrant, which laid out new details about the FBI's investigation and the highly sensitive nature of classified material that had been previously retrieved from the Palm Beach, Florida, resort.
Trump claimed that the newly released redacted affidavit the FBI submitted in court to obtain the warrant for the search raised "more questions than answers."
"The Redacted Affidavit underscores why this Motion should be granted, as it provides almost no information that would allow Movant to understand why the raid took place, or what was taken from his home," Trump's wrote on the filing.
This story has been updated with additional information.
