“In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records,” the Trump lawyers wrote, arguing that prosecutors are trying to limit any outside review of “what it deems are ‘classified records’.”
The filing was in response to the Justice Department’s request for U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon to temporarily suspend parts of her ruling appointing a special master to review the contents of more than two dozenboxes and other items seized at Trump’s club and residence on Aug. 8.
Federal prosecutors have asked that the judge withhold her prior ruling that the FBI not use the more than 100 classified documents seized in the search until they are reviewed by an outside legal expert. The government also asked Cannon to exempt the classified documents from review by the outside expert, known as a special master, saying that requiring such a review would unnecessarily complicate the national security issues in the high-profile case.
In the new filing, Trump’s lawyers disagree, charging that prosecutors are overstating the national-security concerns and that “there is no indication any purported ‘classified records’ were disclosed to anyone.”
For months before the Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, the National Archives and Records Administration and the Justice Department tried to get Trump to return all White House and presidential documents still in his possession, according to court filings in the case.
In May, the government subpoenaed Trump, asking for all the classified documents he still had. His lawyers told the government in response to the subpoena that everything had been returned. But the search last month yielded an additional 27 boxes containing a mix of personal items and classified and unclassified government material.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.