September 8, 2022 4:05pm EDT
DOJ will appeal judge order to appoint special master to review records seized by FBI from Trump's Mar-a-Lago
Trump's legal team and the DOJ have been ordered to submit suggestions for special master by Friday
By Brooke Singman | Fox News
The Justice Department on Thursday informed the court that it will appeal the federal judge's order for the appointment of a special master to review the records seized by the FBI during its unprecedented raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, if the court does not grant the government a stay in the case.
The Justice Department filed a "notice of appeal" to U.S. District Judge from the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Thursday.
The filing specifically states that the government "respectfully moves for a partial stay" pending its appeal of Cannon's ruling Monday, which ordered that a special master be appointed to "review the seized property, manage assertions of privilege and make recommendations thereon, and evaluate claims for return of property."
"The government respectfully requests that the Court rule on this motion promptly," the DOJ filing states. "If the Court does not grant a stay by Thursday, September 15, the government intends to seek relief from the Eleventh Circuit."
"A stay as to that limited set of records is warranted for three reasons," the DOJ wrote. "First, the government is likely to succeed in its appeal of the Order as it applies to classified records," the DOJ states, adding that 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 cited Supreme Court precedent, saying it "makes clear that any assertion of privilege" that Trump may attempt to make over classified records "would be overcome by the government’s ‘demonstrated, specific need’ for that evidence."
Cannon's order Monday authorized the appointment of a special master to review the seized property for "personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege," the order states.
"Second, the government and the public would suffer irreparable harm absent a stay," the DOJ wrote.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-will-appeal-judge-order-appoint-special-master-review-records-seized-fbi-trumps-mar-a-lago