Judge Aileen M. Cannon told attorneys for Donald Trumpp Thursday that they did not need to comply with an order from special master Raymond J. Dearie and testify in a filing if they believe FBI agents lied about documents seized from Sea-to-Lakethe residence of the former president in Florida, according to The Washington Post.
Thursday’s ruling is the first clash in the litigation over documents seized at Mar-a-Lago between Cannon, the party-accepted special teacher in the case, who appears to be far more skeptical of Trump, and Dearie, a Trump-appointed federal judge who has always expressed deference to him.
At the request of Trump’s attorneys, Judge Cannon selected Dearie as a special master to review approximately 11,000 documents seized Aug. 8 from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and residence, determining whether any should be protected from criminals. investigators due to attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
Dearie told the former president’s legal team that they could not suggest in court documents that the government’s description of the seized documents, even if they were classified, was inaccurate without providing any evidence. He ordered them to present to the court, by October 7, any specific inaccuracies they saw in the government’s inventory list of seized items.
It would have been a key test of Trump’s legal strategy, because it would show whether his lawyers stand behind Trump’s controversial public claims that the FBI placed items in his residence and that he had declassified all classified documents before he left office.
But Canon decided Thursday that Trump’s lawyers do not have to comply with the special master’s order.
The judge also addressed ongoing disputes over Dearie’s deadlines as part of her review, siding with the Trump team and extending the review period until December 16. Dearie had suggested that she could work on a faster schedule and told the parties that they would have to finish their portions of the review. before October 21.
Source: La Opinion
