Trump lawyers seek halt of Mar-a-Lago document inquiry, want special master to oversee review
Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking to halt the continued review of classified documents seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month until a special master or third party can be appointed to ensure that possibly privileged material is shielded from scrutiny, according to court documents filed Monday.
The lawsuit filed Monday by Trump’s legal team cast the search in stark political terms and described the government’s search warrant as overly broad because it authorized FBI agents to seize “boxes of documents merely because they are physically found together with other items purportedly within the scope of the warrant.”
The former president’s attorneys also accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of using the criminal justice system to alter the political landscape.
In their filing, Trump’s lawyers also said Garland’s recent statement acknowledging the search “clearly suggests that the decision to raid Mar-a-Lago, a mere 90 days before the 2022 midterm elections, involved political calculations aimed at diminishing the leading voice in the Republican party, President Trump.”
The lawsuit argues that the government’s handling of the search warrant raised fundamental Fourth Amendment concerns, a reference to the part of the U.S. Constitution that shields citizens from “unreasonable searches and seizures” without showing due cause for such actions.
Trump’s lawsuit comes as a federal magistrate said he would consider releasing parts of an affidavit federal authorities used as the basis for the search.
U.S. Magistrate Bruce Reinhart ordered Justice Department lawyers to provide an edited or redacted version of the search warrant affidavit by Thursday for his consideration in deciding whether any of the document’s contents could be released.
More:Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart facing firestorm for signing Mar-a-Lago search warrant. Who is he?
Government lawyers have opposed the release of the document, even in its edited state, arguing that it would provide a “roadmap” to the continuing investigation, which is reviewing possible obstruction of justice and violations of the Espionage Act.
Presidential records belong to the American people, not former presidents