WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice will appeal a federal judge’s decision to grant former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home, and to temporarily halt its use of the records for investigative purposes.
The Justice Department notified U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday that it will appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Monday, Cannon decided to approve an outside legal expert to review the more than 11,000 records and materials taken during a court-approved Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and to weed out from the rest of the investigation any materials that might be protected by claims of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. She agreed to allow a national security review of the documents to continue, but enjoined the Justice Department from using the materials until the special master’s review is complete.
The Justice Department has said a special master is not necessary, in part because officials had already completed their review of documents potentially subject to attorney-client privilege.
The department asked Cannon to stay part of her decision and allow it to access the about 100 classified documents found in the search while the special master reviews the nonclassified materials. It also asked that she not instruct the special master to review the classified materials.
The filing indicates that the Justice Department may not appeal if Cannon modifies her order.
The special master review could take several weeks, and finding a person with the right legal background and security clearances is expected to add to that time.
Restricting the department’s access to the classified documents “will cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public,” the department said in its filing, adding that the national security review being done by the intelligence community is inextricably linked to the criminal investigation.
In the filing, the department also said it is urgent that the FBI be permitted to help investigate the dozens of empty folders with classification markings found at Mar-a-Lago to determine what they once held and whether their contents “may have been lost or compromised.”
