The new date is Dec 1, 2022, 06:00pmEST.

A federal appeals court cut short a special master's review of White House documents the Department of Justice seized at former President Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate.

Mar-a-Lago Trump

The Mar-a-Lago resort is owned by former President Donald Trump.

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A panel of judges at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals told a lower court judge to dismiss the case after tossing out a September order ordering a special master to review all Mar-A-Lago documents.

The 11th Circuit argued that the judge did not have the authority to stop the DOJ from using the seized documents.

The 11th Circuit ruled that the purpose of the special master's review was to exclude any documents that may be protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.

Christopher Kise and James Trusty have not responded to questions.

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It is1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump on the Mar-A-Lago documents, but it's not clear whether that would work. If Trump doesn't ask a higher court to consider the issue, the appeals court's ruling will put an end to Dearie's review and the court proceedings over it, and means the DOJ can get possession of the non-classified documents it seized immediately.

It is possible that the DOJ will indict Trump based on its investigation. The Justice Department is looking into whether Trump violated three federal statutes when he brought White House documents with him to Mar-A-Lago. Penalties of fines or maximum prison sentences of between three and 20 years can be found in those statutes. Some GOP aides and strategists thought that Attorney General Garland could indict Trump before the election season starts, which would make the issue more complicated. A neutral special counsel has been appointed by Garland to oversee the investigation as well as a separate probe into Trump's efforts to overturn the election. Jack Smith will now be in charge of deciding whether to bring charges against Trump, rather than Garland, and an indictment could come later as a result. Smith said in a statement after he was appointed that the pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under his watch.

Key Background

The dispute over the special master has been going on since August, when Trump asked a federal district judge to appoint a third-party special master. The decision that the DOJ appealed to the 11th Circuit was widely criticized by legal experts. Cannon appointed Dearie as special master and the judge began his oversight of the seized documents while court battles continued to play out. Cannon refused to change her order after the DOJ asked her to do so. The appeals court granted the DOJ's request to shut down the review entirely after it expanded its appeal and asked the 11th Circuit to rule on classified documents only.

The Appeals Court appears likely to side with the DOJ.

Trump Mar-A-Lago investigation, what to know as ex-president goes to supreme court.

The Supreme Court ruled against Trump on Mar-a-Lago classified documents.