The Department of Justice filed a motion on Thursday appealing a federal judge’s decision to appoint a special master to review documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago during the FBI search last month.
This comes three days after Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon approved the former president’s request for an outside watchdog to review the documents and identify personal items and records that are protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
Cannon also said that the order “temporarily enjoins the government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes.”
The DOJ argued in their filing on Thursday that a former president cannot assert executive privilege after he leaves office, and that it is not possible for one part of the executive branch to assert privilege to shield documents from another part, according to the Washington Post.
Trump “does not and could not assert that he owns or has any possessory interest in classified records; that he has any right to have those government records returned to him; or that he can advance any plausible claims of attorney-client privilege as to such records that would bar the government from reviewing or using them,” the DOJ wrote.
The DOJ also asked Cannon to stay her order blocking the agency from reviewing and using the seized documents further in their investigation of the former president.
