Trump brings Supreme Court into DoJ and classified document quagmire
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Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas is already facing the brunt of handling both the Trump case and his own wife's case, Ginni Thomas, for her partaking in the Jan.6 riots.
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Judge Clarence Thomas (AP)
Former US President Donald Trump submitted a request on Tuesday to the Supreme Court opposing the Department of Justice's review of the classified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida by the FBI.
This comes in light of the most recent update when an appeals court agreed last month that the DoJ could pursue its review of the documents, a hit for the Trump legal team.
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 raid on August 8.
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.
Trump's legal team wants the appointed "special master", Judge Raymond Dearie, to go over the approximately 100 documents categorized as classified and top-secret. They argued, per the filing, that "the eleventh circuit granted a stay of the special master order, effectively compromising the integrity of the well-established policy against piecemeal appellate review and ignoring the District Court's broad discretion without justification."
Assigned to oversee emergency requests in the 11th Circuit responsible for Trump's case, Justice Clarence Thomas has urged the DOJ to respond to Trump's petition by October 11. However, Judge Thomas is already dealing with his own case, as his conservative activist wife, Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas, faces courts and investigations for attending a pro-Trump rally close to the White House on the morning of the Jan. 6 riots but alleges that she left the area before crowds attacked the Capitol.
