Attorneys for Donald Trump criticized the Justice Department's attempt to shield classified documents seized at Mar-A-Lago from a third-party special master, accusing them of not being able to prove that White House materials labeled "classified" actually are.
The Mar-a-Lago resort is owned by former President Donald Trump.
In a court filing Tuesday, Trump's attorneys told the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that they should reject a request from the DOJ to keep around 100 classified documents.
The DOJ argued that the agency should be able to shield the classified documents from the special master in order to continue the investigation.
The DOJ has argued that Trump doesn't have a claim to the White House documents, which are in the National Archives.
Trump had the authority to declassify any information he wanted, but his attorneys wouldn't say if he actually did.
In a separate court filing Monday, Trump's attorneys said they wouldn't answer questions about whether the ex-president hid documents if he was indicted.
While a brief delay of the government's investigation into the Mar-A-Lago documents would not harm the DOJ, it would harm Trump to grant the agency's request and allow it review documents that may very well be off limits.
The Government has criminalized document disputes and now objects to a transparent process that provides much-needed oversight, according to Trump's attorneys. The Government tried to shield the supposedly classified documents from the ambit of a Senior United States District Judge.
The first meeting with Dearie will take place at 2 p.m. To figure out how the special master will finish his work. After being the ones to suggest Dearie be appointed special master, Trump's attorneys objected to a timeline Dearie suggested that would require them to go through all of the seized documents by October 7. Dearie was told to complete his review by the end of the month.
After Trump asked a court to appoint a special master two weeks after the FBI searched his Mar-A-Lago estate, the Justice Department appealed to the 11th circuit. More than 11,000 White House materials, about 100 of which were labeled as classified, were seized by the DOJ as a result of the search. The judge ordered a special master to review all the documents to make sure they are not covered by attorney-client or executive privilege. Cannon's order blocks the DOJ from using the documents in its probe while the special master is going through them, prompting the DOJ to ask Cannon to walk back her order just as it applies to classified documents. The government asked for relief after Cannon denied the request.
The investigation of Trump's Mar-A-Lago is currently being led by a special master.
The DOJ appealed the Mar-A-Lago special master order.
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