Fox News reports that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has just indicated that it will appeal the court order requiring the appointment of an independent special master to review the documents seized by the FBI during its unprecedented raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
This is how desperate the administration of President Joe Biden is to get Trump – they are even fighting the appointment of an independent review of the documents they seized from his property. What are they scared of? What are they hiding?
Background
Trump and his legal team requested the appointment of an independent special master in order to review the documents that the FBI has taken from his home.
The DOJ fought that request using several arguments, including that it is using a “taint” or “filter” team to review the documents. But, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, from the Southern District of Florida, granted Trump’s request on Monday.
“The Court hereby authorizes the appointment of a special master to review the seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege,” Cannon wrote.
The judge added, “in natural conjunction with that appointment, and consistent with the value and sequence of special master procedures, the Court also temporarily enjoins [stops] the Government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.”
The question, following Cannon’s decision, was whether the DOJ would attempt to even fight the appointment of a special master with an appeal. And, we now have the answer.
The latest
The DOJ indicated its intent to appeal Cannon’s decision by filing a “notice of appeal” on Thursday and by asking Cannon to, in the meantime, grant a partial stay of her order to appoint a special master.
“A stay as to that limited set of records is warranted for three reasons,” the DOJ wrote. “First, the government is likely to succeed in its appeal of the Order as it applies to classified records.”
“Second, the government and the public would suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” the DOJ added. “Third, the partial stay sought here would impose no cognizable harm on Plaintiff.”
Trump blasted the DOJ’s filing on social media.
The former president wrote:
So now the FBI & Biden Department of “Justice” leakers are going to spend Millions of Dollars, & vast amounts of Time & Energy, to appeal the Order on the “Raid of Mar-a-Lago Document Hoax,” by a brilliant and courageous Judge whose words of wisdom rang true throughout our Nation, instead of fighting the record setting corruption and crime that is taking place right before their very eyes. They SPIED on my Campaign, lied to FISA COURT, told Facebook “quiet,” preside over worst CRIME WAVE ever!!