DoJ allowed to continue reviewing classified Trump docs
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Investigators can now resume the revision of the documents seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence after the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on Wednesday to allow the probe to continue.
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Trump and his attorney (AFP)
Investigators can now resume the revision of the documents seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence after the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on Wednesday to allow the probe to continue, following the federal judge's attempt to block investigators from examining the classified documents.
According to the appeals court, Trump provided no evidence that he had declassified the sensitive material and opposed the thought or possibility of his "individual interest in or need for" the approximately 100 documents with classification markings that were seized by the FBI in its Aug. 8 raid.
The raid led to Trump facing a criminal investigation over potential violations of the Espionage Act and additional statutes relating to obstruction of justice, as well as the destruction of federal government records, according to the search warrant executed by FBI agents at the former President's home.
The order from US District in Florida Judge Aileen Cannon prohibited investigators from examining the documents as she agreed to have a "special master" or an independent arbiter per Trump's request on September 5.
Although the Justice Department deemed the "special master" nomination unnecessary, since Trump had no valid basis to use executive privilege and the documents rule out attorney-client privilege as they do not contain communication material between Trump and his lawyers, the appeals panel finally agreed to Trump's nomination.
The special master would have the power to independently look over the seized documents and set aside any documents that may be protected under attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, with the ability to determine if said documents are right to be returned to Trump.
The former chief judge of the Brooklyn federal court, Raymond Dearie, was selected to take the role as he carried out his first meeting with both parties' lawyers on Tuesday.
"It is self-evident that the public has a strong interest in ensuring that the storage of the classified records did not result in 'exceptionally grave damage to the national security'", the Appeal's court wrote, adding: "ascertaining that necessarily involves reviewing the documents, determining who had access to them and when, and deciding which (if any) sources or methods are compromised. An injunction that delayed or prevented the criminal investigation from using classified materials risks imposing real and significant harm on the United States and the public".
The court agreed with the Justice Department on Wednesday on the fact that "courts should order a review of such materials in only the most extraordinary circumstances. The record does not allow for the conclusion that this is such a circumstance."
Trump has persisted in saying that he had declassified the material, and in a Fox News interview recorded the same day before the appeals court ruling, he commented: "If you're the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying 'It's declassified.'"
Lawyers have said that he has the authority to declassify the material, Trump's "dream team" refused to provide Dearie with any information that would corroborate with the declassification statement by disclosing that it could be part of their defense in case an indictment is ruled. The Justice Department even included a photo in one court filing of parts of the seized documents demonstrating their classified status with colored cover sheers cover sheets which the appeals court pointed out as well.
The judges announced: "plaintiff suggests that he may have declassified these documents when he was President. But the record contains no evidence that any of these records were declassified, in any event, at least for these purposes, the declassification argument is a red herring because declassifying an official document would not change its content or render it personal."
The three judges who served on the panel for Wednesday's ruling were Trump-appointed Britt Grant and Andrew Brasher and former president Barack Obama-appointed Judge Robin Rosenbaum.
