DOJ appeal contends special master review is unnecessary

A special main review of documents from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate should not have been authorized, the Justice Department argued in its first filing in the appeal to the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta.

The department is asking the court to overturn U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to appoint a special foreman to review more than 11,000 records seized during the Aug. 8 search of the Florida property by the FBI and the department from using any of the documents in his investigation until the months-long trial ends.

In the filing, the department states that the documents seized are “actual subjects” of an “ongoing criminal investigation.”

“The court should, therefore, reverse the district court’s injunction and end the review of the special master,” the filing reads.

The Court of Appeals has already granted the department’s request to withhold about 100 classified documents from the master’s special review, overturning Cannon’s order preventing the department from using those records as part of its investigation during the review. The Supreme Court on Thursday denied Trump’s request to intervene in the dispute over whether the special master should examine the classified documents.

Cannon appointed Raymond Dearie, a senior judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, as special master, and the review of more than 20,000 pages of documents has already begun. The special master is to set aside any materials that Trump says are protected from investigation by claims of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege and recommend Cannon how the documents should be categorized. The process is expected to be completed in December.