- Thursday’s rejection by the DOJ of its appeal to continue to examine classified documents in connection with its probe led to its withdrawal.
- A federal judge ruled that Trump didn’t possess “possessory” interest in the documents.
- Until a master review was completed, the judge could not accept DOJ’s claim.
A federal judge ruled that Donald Trump did not have a “possessory interest” in certain documents seized at Mar-a-Lago by the Justice Department simply because they were classified government records and could not be further reviewed by a third-party.
Thursday’s Judge Aileen M. Cannon of US District Court for Southern District of Florida will be speaking. Designated a special masterReview of more than 11,000 documents that were seized from Mar-a-Lago by Mar-a-Lago during August.
Her reasoning includes Judge Cannon wrote in her rulingHer court cannot accept the claim of the department that Trump shouldn’t have had classified documents until the review is complete by a special Master.
Cannon wrote, “The Court does NOT consider it appropriate for the Government to accept its conclusions on these important issues disputed without further review of a neutral party in an expedited orderly fashion.”
Raymond Dearie was a former Chief Judge of US District Court for Eastern District Court of New York. Nominated to serve as the third-party reviewer. Cannon gave a deadline for the review to be completed on November 30,
Cannon, who was appointed to Trump’s position, wrote in her decision that she could not accept the argument of the Justice Department that Trump does not have a “plausible claim for privilege” on classified documents.
Legal experts previously raised doubtsCannon’s conclusion that Trump may be entitled to executive privilege over records, since the government has the documents and the Biden administration declined privilege over them.
Cannon’s order however allows for the government “for purposes intelligence classification or national security assessments” to continue reviewing the documents.
