WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in court Monday calling for the appointment of an independent party to review the documents retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago estate by FBI agents earlier this month, in a search that revealed the breadth of a federal investigation into Trump's handling of highly classified materials.
Trump’s attorneys asserted the documents repossessed by the government are “presumptively privileged” material because they were generated while Trump was president. According to the former president’s team, only a “special master” — an independent person appointed by a court to review materials — could determine whether the material is privileged.
They are also asking a federal court to halt the federal government’s review of the documents that were hauled from Mar-a-Lago until a special master is appointed.
A search warrant of Trump’s former home and a receipt of the items that were removed show that FBI agents collected 11 sets of classified materials, including one set that included some of the government’s most sensitive secrets, as part of an investigation into potential violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.
The Presidential Records Act established that documents produced by an administration remain the property of the United States — not the president, or any other official — after they office, regardless of whether the material is classified or not.
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