Donald Trump urged a federal judge to appoint a special master to review records to determine whether they are privileged.
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A judge was unclear on a number of key issues related to Trump’s lawsuit over the Mar-a-Lago search.
Judge Aileen Cannon wants Trump’s lawyers to elaborate by Friday on the “precise relief” they seek.
Legal experts previously pointed to fundamental elements missing from Trump’s lawsuit.
A day after Donald Trump sued to stop the Justice Department from reviewing records seized at Mar-a-Lago, a federal judge appeared to join other legal experts Tuesday in their bafflement over the former president’s lawsuit.
Trump’s lawsuit was met with mockery from former federal prosecutors and other legal experts, who saw the court filing as lacking fundamental elements, such as exhibits, sworn affidavits, or a viewpoint on how a judge should approach the issues raised. In interviews and on social media, legal experts said the lawsuit was more akin to a press release with its airing of grievances against the Justice Department and repeated descriptions of Trump as a “clear frontrunner” in the 2024 presidential race.
On Tuesday, Judge Aileen Cannon seemed similarly unsure of what to make of Trump’s lawsuit. Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed in 2020, asked the former president’s lawyers to further explain what they wanted and how they believed the court should approach their request.
The judge ordered Trump’s lawyers to respond by Friday with a court filing “further elaborating” on several points, including the “asserted basis for the exercise of this court’s jurisdiction,” “the framework applicable to the exercise of such jurisdiction,” and the precise relief they want. Cannon also asked Trump’s legal team to address “the effect, if any,” of a separate proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart, who approved the warrant allowing the FBI to search the former president’s South Florida estate.
Shortly after Cannon requested additional briefing, legal experts pointed to her initial response as an ominous sign for Trump’s lawsuit.
“It’s never a good sign when within 24 hours of filing a motion a friendly judge issues an order demanding you submit more information on why exactly you brought the matter to her in the first place,” wrote Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer.
In his lawsuit Monday, Trump urged Cannon to appoint a third party — known as a “special master” — to review records seized from Mar-a-Lago to determine whether any are covered by attorney-client privilege, executive privilege, or similar legal doctrines. Until then, Trump’s lawyers argued, the judge should forbid the Justice Department from reviewing materials removed from the former president’s South Florida home and club.
Trump’s lawyers also demanded a more detailed inventory of the items seized during the August 8 search. A manifest of those items, publicly released days after the search, revealed that FBI agents seized more than a dozen boxes of government records from Mar-a-Lago, some of which contained classified and top secret material.
The FBI also seized binders of photos, a handwritten note, and the executive grant of clemency for Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone.
Trump’s lawsuit, coming two weeks after the search of Mar-a-Lago, marked his most forceful response to date against the unprecedented raid of a former president’s home. In his 27-page lawsuit, Trump called the search “unprecedented and unnecessary” and alleged that it was motivated by politics.