- Donald Trump has until September 30 to provide evidence that documents were planted in his property.
- The FBI raided the Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8.
- The Justice Department is investigating Trump’s handling of classified information.
A United States judge appointed to review documents seized from Donald Trump’s Florida home in August has ordered the former US president’s legal team to produce evidence to support Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that some of the files were planted by the FBI.
In a court filing Thursday, Raymond Deery asked the Justice Department to approve by Monday a detailed inventory of documents that were seized during an Aug. 8 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
READ | In a setback for Trump, a US court has stripped Mar-a-Lago of classified classified documents
He then asked Trump’s lawyers to submit by Sept. 30 a list of specific items they believe “were not seized on the premises” during the search, as well as any amendments to the list of US government property.
dearie wrote:
This statement belongs to the plaintiff [Trump’s] last opportunity to raise any factual dispute regarding the completeness and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory.
Deary this month appointed a neutral third party, known as a special master, to review documents seized in the FBI search for any material covered by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, agreed to a request by the ex-president’s team to freeze the government’s review of the files until a special master is appointed.
The Justice Department is investigating Trump’s possible mishandling of classified material in an unprecedented criminal investigation against the former president.
The search warrant at Mar-a-Lago said federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one governing the collection, transfer or loss of defense information under the Espionage Act.
The unsealed property receipt also revealed that the FBI seized 11 sets of classified documents, some of which were marked not only as top secret, but as “compartmented classified information.”
Trump’s legal team has slammed the investigation as “flawed,” saying US law gives presidents “extreme discretion” to mark their administration’s documents as presidential or personal.
The former president’s legal team also questioned whether the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago were actually classified files, suggesting that Trump may have declassified them before leaving office.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump suggested that the FBI may have planted documents during the search.
“The problem you have is that they go into rooms, they don’t let anyone in; they don’t even let them in the same building. Did they drop anything in those files? Or did they do it later? the chain of custody is here with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, a US appeals court on Wednesday approved the Justice Department’s request to remove Cannon’s control over the documents.
The ruling was an overwhelming victory for the government, clearing the way for investigators to continue to examine the documents as they decide whether to bring criminal charges against Trump.
