Trump Fires Back Against DOJ Appeal in Mar-a-Lago Raid Case

Jack Phillips
By Jack Phillips
October 3, 2022FBI Trump Raid
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Trump Fires Back Against DOJ Appeal in Mar-a-Lago Raid Case
Former President Donald Trump gets ready to speak during a Save America rally in Warren, Mich., on Oct. 1, 2022. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers moved to oppose the Department of Justice’s recent bid to speed up its court appeal of the appointment of a special master.

“President Trump also opposes the Government’s request to expedite oral argument in this case,” Trump attorneys Christopher Kise and Jim Trusty wrote in a filing (pdf) on Monday, adding that they want oral arguments set for January 2023 “or later.”

They added that “Trump disagrees with and objects to the Government’s distorted and argumentative presentation of facts concerning the unprecedented raid of his home, its conduct in these proceedings, and the procedural history of this case.

“Finally, the extraordinary circumstances herein presented—an investigation of the 45th President by the administration of his political rival—would countenance against any rush to judgment. Indeed, the public interest is served best by transparent and thorough consideration of all the issues. The Government has not and cannot possibly articulate any real risk of loss or harm resulting from a more deliberative process.”

Previous Filings

Several days before, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested an expedited order in its appeal of the special master who was appointed by a lower court to review materials that were seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August. District Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Judge Raymond Dearie to be the special master of the records that were taken from Trump’s Florida home.

Lawyers for the DOJ on Sept. 30 wrote to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Apppeals that the government is blocked from accessing more than 11,000 documents that weren’t marked classified during the August FBI raid.  Because the DOJ cannot access those records, its investigation is now hampered, the attorneys further said.

The non-classified records “may shed light on, for example, how the materials bearing classification markings were transferred to [Trump’s] residence, how they were stored, and who may have accessed them,” the DOJ wrote, adding that the non-classified records may constitute evidence of potential violations of federal statutes on obstruction and concealment or removal of government records.

Last month, the appeals court sided with the Justice Department in lifting portions of Cannon’s ruling that had blocked the DOJ from relying on classified materials taken during the raid as part of its Trump investigation. The 11th Circuit also blocked Dearie from accessing classified materials as part of his review

Trump, on social media, has maintained that he declassified a range of materials while he was president. Among other items, the FBI also took medical records, passports, and tax documents, Trump has contended.

Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times

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