Donald Trump urged a federal judge on Monday to stop the Justice Department from reviewing materials seized in the Mar-a-Lago raid, arguing in a new lawsuit that the court should appoint a so-called special master to “protect the integrity of privileged documents” found at the former president’s South Florida home.
In a court filing, Trump’s lawyers also demanded that the Justice Department provide a more detailed inventory of items the FBI removed from Mar-a-Lago during an August 8 search that immediately ratcheted up the former president’s legal jeopardy.
Trump’s lawsuit opened a new front in his attack on the Justice Department in the aftermath of the FBI’s extraordinary search of Mar-a-Lago, a raid the former president’s lawyers described in their lawsuit as “unprecedented and unnecessary.” The lawsuit opened with claims that the search was politically motivated and identified Trump as “the clear frontrunner in the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary and in the 2024 General Election, should he decide to run.”
“Politics cannot be allowed to impact the administration of justice,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
In the 27-page lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers said the Justice Department had informed them that privileged or potentially privileged materials were among the records FBI agents removed from the former president’s Palm Beach estate. Trump’s legal team asked Judge Aileen Cannon to forbid the Justice Department from continuing its review of records until she selects a court-appointed outsider — known as a special master — to sift out privileged materials.
“This step- which the Government itself has requested in cases involving the seizure of privileged and/or potentially privileged materials- is needed to preserve the sanctity of executive communications and other privileged materials,” Trump’s lawyers argued, adding that FBI agents seized privileged materials “suggests the need for a careful review process.”
Just days after the Mar-a-Lago search, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department would ask a magistrate judge to unseal the search warrant authorizing the raid of Mar-a-Lago and the manifest of items seized. Announcing the unusual move, Garland pointed to Trump’s public statements about the raid, including his confirmation that the FBI was searching his South Florida home.
Trump did not object, and by week’s end, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart unsealed court records showing that the search was related to possible violations of the Espionage Act and laws governing the handling of government documents. Among the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago, according to court records, were classified documents — including some marked as top secret — along with binders of photos, a handwritten note, and the executive grant of clemency for Trump’s ally Roger Stone.
In the lawsuit Monday, the Trump legal team described Garland’s press conference as “deeply troubling” and asserted that it “clearly suggests that the decision to raid Mar-a-Lago, a mere 90 days before the 2022 midterm elections, involved political calculations aimed at diminishing the leading voice in the Republican party, President Trump.”
Garland’s top spokesperson Anthony Coley, in a prepared statement, said the “search warrant at Mar-a-Lago was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause.”
“The Department is aware of this evening’s motion,” Coley said. “The United States will file its response in court.”
This report was originally published on Insider.
