A federal judge in Washington granted a request by former President Donald Trump's legal team to appoint a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home.
The Justice Department objected to the decision because officials had already completed their review of potentially privileged documents. During arguments this month, the judge asked a department lawyer, "What is the harm?", signaling her inclination to approve a special master.
The judge's directive that the Justice Department may not use any of the seized materials for investigative purposes is likely to slow the investigation. It's not clear if it will have any effect on the investigation or the ultimate outcome.
Cannon said she would allow the continuation of a risk assessment of the documents being conducted by the U.S. intelligence community.
Lawyers for Trump argued that a special master was needed to ensure an independent review of records taken during the search. They said that a review was needed so that any personal information or documents recovered by the FBI could be returned to Trump and that any documents protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege could also be removed.
The Justice Department argued against the appointment because it had already reviewed potentially privileged documents and identified a limited subset that could be covered by attorney-client privilege.
Since he is no longer president, the documents that were taken do not belong to Trump. The department said that personal items that were recovered were commingled with classified information.
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