A judge has permitted the former US president, Donald Trump, to have a special master look into the documents seized during the raid on Mar-a-Lago, Florida in August 2022.
The decision, from District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday, September 5, is a significant win for the former President, who has been criticizing the Joe Biden administration and Justice Department since the raid on his property in Florida had been done about a month ago.
Judge Cannon had ordered a third-party attorney, outside the government jurisdiction, to be brought in to review the documents that were taken from Trump’s home and resort in Florida. This order has additionally stopped the Justice Department from continuing to review the seized materials until the completion of the special master’s review or further court order.
The District Judge’s ruling had come after Trump’s lawyers had argued that a special master was needed because they did not trust the Justice Department to identify privileged materials that would need to be removed from the ongoing criminal probe, fairly. Trump’s lawyers and the Department of Justice have until this week Friday to nominate a special master candidate and his/her particular duties.
Meanwhile, before the Judge’s verdict, Trump had heavily critiqued the Justice Department and the seizure of his materials at his rally in Pennsylvania, this past weekend.