In the affair surrounding secret documents confiscated from Donald Trump, a decision is to be made shortly on the ex-president’s application for the appointment of a special master. But what does a special representative actually do?
It had taken a while, but two weeks after Donald Trump’s Florida raid, his lawyers requested an independent review of the confiscated documents. This Thursday, another two weeks later, there will be a hearing at which District Judge Aileen Cannon will decide whether to grant Trump’s request and appoint a so-called Special Master.
Here you can find out what a Special Master is and what its appointment would mean:
What is a Special Master?
A Special Master is an attorney independent of the disputing parties who may be appointed by a court in sensitive cases to oversee part of an investigation. In Trump’s case, the special adviser would oversee the Justice Department’s review of evidence collected at the former president’s mansion, filtering out confidential material so investigators could not see it. This is not about the secret government documents that Trump took from the White House, but about confidential material that may also have been seized in the course of the raid, which is taboo for the investigators because it is subject to the lawyer-client privilege.
Why does Donald Trump want a Special Master?
Trump’s legal counsel widely argues that a special master is necessary to ensure the Justice Department returns all of his private documents seized in the Mar-a-Lago search. The former president’s lawyers allege that the raid was politically motivated and violated his constitutional rights, and that confidential material may have been seized. In the court filings, however, the Trump team did not elaborate on what exactly a Special Master should filter out, if any, only listing “confidential and potentially confidential material” in general terms.
What is the attitude of the Department of Justice?
The Justice Department believes that the appointment of a special representative “is unnecessary and would significantly harm vital government interests, including national security.” In addition, such a review of classified information would “prevent the intelligence community from conducting its ongoing review of the national security risk that improper storage of these highly sensitive materials may have posed and identifying actions to remedy or mitigate the damage caused by improper storage.” , according to a submission by the ministry to the court.
In addition, the investigators said they had used an internal filter team to examine the confiscated items and to separate out material that could fall under the attorney-client privilege. Since Trump’s legal representatives only submitted their application for a special master about two weeks after the search, this filter team has already finished its work. The review identified “a limited number of materials” that may be covered by attorney-client privilege and is in the process of resolving disputes over them.
Investigators had already mentioned the work of a filter team when they returned Trump private documents not part of the investigation, such as two expired passports and his diplomatic passport.
What about the Special Master’s application?
District Judge Aileen Cannon has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to review Trump’s motion. At the same time, Cannon informed the parties that she had “provisional intentions” to appoint the special representative. At the same time, the judge stressed that this should not be construed as her final decision on the matter and instructed Trump’s lawyers to explain their arguments and what exactly the ex-president is asking for. Cannon was appointed a judge by Trump in 2020.
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Source: Stern
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