Former President Donald Trump was given a deadline till Friday by a federal judge to clarify his request for a special master to review the documents the FBI collected by from his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The order issued on Tuesday by US District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon demands that Trump elaborates on how the court has jurisdiction and what exactly he wants the court to order in the case since such appointment is rare in the context of the execution of a search warrant.
In line with the order, Trump’s team must also provide more details on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) was served with the suit and on the effects that the lawsuit might have on another proceeding determining if the affidavit – or parts of it- that supported the search warrant should be released.
Judge Cannon, who was nominated to the position by Trump in 2020, issued a separate order on Tuesday asking two of Trump’s attorneys to correctly format and resubmit their motions to appear pro hac vice.
The procedure allows lawyers to appear in courts in which they are not admitted for a particular case.
In his first major legal action since the FBI executed the search warrant on his property on Aug. 8, Trump filed the lawsuit on Monday to temporarily block the agency from reviewing the documents it seized until a special master to provide outside oversight is appointed.
He has repeatedly attacked the FBI claiming the raid was politically motivated and arguing that there are documents protected by attorney-client privilege and potentially executive privilege among the seized materials.
Meanwhile, the DOJ began its common practice of leveraging a “filter team” – designed to avoid prosecutors seeing protected materials – to examine the documents.
Trump claims the FBI also violated his Fourth Amendment rights that is protecting US citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Be the first to comment