US judge agrees to special master in Trump search case, delaying probe | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
December 11, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023
US judge agrees to special master in Trump search case, delaying probe

USA

Reuters
06 September, 2022, 09:35 am
Last modified: 06 September, 2022, 09:36 am

Related News

  • Trump: I won't be a dictator if I become U.S. president again
  • Trump sues media outlets for $1.5B over 'false reporting'
  • FBI seizes NYC mayor' phones in political fundraising investigation
  • US judge reimposes Trump gag order in 2020 election case
  • Former Trump lawyer Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia, could testify against him

US judge agrees to special master in Trump search case, delaying probe

Reuters
06 September, 2022, 09:35 am
Last modified: 06 September, 2022, 09:36 am
A redacted FBI photograph of documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container stored in former U.S. president Donald Trump's Florida estate, and which was included in a U.S. Department of Justice filing and released August 30, 2022. U.S. Department of Justice/Handout via REUTERS
A redacted FBI photograph of documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container stored in former U.S. president Donald Trump's Florida estate, and which was included in a U.S. Department of Justice filing and released August 30, 2022. U.S. Department of Justice/Handout via REUTERS

A federal judge on Monday agreed to appoint a special master to review records seized by the FBI during its search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate, a move that is likely to delay the Justice Department's criminal investigation.

In her ruling, US District Judge Aileen Cannon in West Palm Beach, Florida, granted Trump's request for a special master, an independent third party who is sometimes assigned in sensitive cases to review materials that could be covered by attorney-client privilege.

Cannon said the person will be tasked with reviewing documents that are not just covered by attorney-client privilege, but any records possibly covered by executive privilege as well.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The decision to allow a special master to review documents that could be covered by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that can shield some White House records from disclosure, is uncharted legal territory.

Cannon also ordered the Justice Department to stop reviewing the records as part of its criminal investigation, a move that will likely at least temporarily hinder its ability to continue investigating.

However, Cannon said US intelligence officials could continue conducting their review into whether the records could pose any damage to national security if exposed.

Trump is under investigation for removing government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, from the White House after he departed in January 2021, and storing them in his home at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

The Justice Department has said it is also investigating possible obstruction, after the FBI uncovered evidence that Trump's team may have deliberately concealed classified documents when agents tried to recover them in June.

If the special master decides some of the material is covered by Trump's executive privilege claims, it could hamper the government's investigation.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020 just months before he left office, rejected the government's argument that the records belong to the government and that Trump is no longer president and therefore cannot claim executive privilege.

She gave Trump's legal team and the Justice Department until Friday to jointly file a proposed list of special master candidates. Whomever the court ultimately taps will need to have the requisite security clearances and legal expertise.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department will appeal Cannon's ruling, or on what basis it would do so.

"The United States is examining the opinion and will consider appropriate next steps in the ongoing litigation," Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

However, in a post on his Truth Social platform following Cannon's ruling, Trump wrote: "Remember, it takes courage and 'guts' to fight a totally corrupt Department of 'Justice' and the FBI."

A whole lot of special treatment

Some legal experts on Monday called the judge's order deeply flawed.

"This is not something courts do," said Jonathan Shaub, a former Justice Department attorney.

He said it was odd for Cannon to block the Justice Department from reviewing the records at this stage in the investigation, before an indictment has even been returned.

"It's giving a whole lot of special treatment," Shaub said.

Cannon in her ruling justified her actions by claiming that Trump faces the stigma of having had his home searched, and any future indictment based on the seizure of those records would cause "reputational harm."

Trump, without evidence, has accused the Justice Department of launching a partisan witch-hunt against him. His lawyers argued that the appointment of an independent third-party to review the materials would be an important check on the government.

The Justice Department argued that it made no sense to appoint a special master because its filter team - a group of agents who are not part of the investigation - had completed its work.

The agents located and set aside about 520 pages that could be subject to attorney-client privilege, prosecutors said at a September 1 hearing. The rest of the records have already been reviewed by the investigative team for the criminal probe.

In her ruling on Monday, Cannon said she has lingering concerns about how the Justice Department has conducted its privilege review, saying she was aware of at least two instances in which members of the investigative team were exposed to materials which were later designated as potentially privileged.

"Those instances alone, even if entirely inadvertent, yield questions about the adequacy of the filter review process," she wrote.

Many former Justice Department attorneys, both Democrats and Republicans, have criticised Trump's call for a special master.

"I don't think a special master makes sense in connection with executive privilege material," former Attorney General Bill Barr, a Trump appointee, told Reuters in an interview.

"If the documents are subject to executive privilege they involve official deliberations about executive actions, and by definition, those documents belong to the government."

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser who also previously served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Division, called the judge's ruling "amateurish" and not well-reasoned.

"My recommendation to the Justice Department is to appeal immediately the temporary injunction, but cooperate and expedite the actual implementation of the judge's order," Bolton said in an interview.

World+Biz

Trump / Mar-a-Lago / FBI

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • File photo of Envoy Textile factory. Photo: Salauddin Ahmed Paulash/TBS
    Bangladeshi textile millers seek loan concession, increased LC limit
  • Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sketch: TBS
    Bangladesh needs immediate climate funding to navigate future challenges: PM Hasina
  • Renata at a glance
    Renata puts footprint into Aussie pharma market

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Times of India
    Abir Hassan, first Bangladeshi to graduate from Indian Military Academy
  • 10m barrel oil, 300b cubic feet gas found in Sylhet
    10m barrel oil, 300b cubic feet gas found in Sylhet
  •  ZARA ATELIER. Collection 04; The Jacket. Photo: Collected
    When art imitates cruelty: Dissecting Zara’s latest shoot
  • Photo: euronews
    Apps that use AI to undress women in photos soaring in use
  • Two-thirds of LPG sellers hold on to bulk importers to stay afloat in dollar crisis
    Two-thirds of LPG sellers hold on to bulk importers to stay afloat in dollar crisis
  • BNP declares fresh round of blockade on Tuesday-Wednesday
    BNP declares fresh round of blockade on Tuesday-Wednesday

Related News

  • Trump: I won't be a dictator if I become U.S. president again
  • Trump sues media outlets for $1.5B over 'false reporting'
  • FBI seizes NYC mayor' phones in political fundraising investigation
  • US judge reimposes Trump gag order in 2020 election case
  • Former Trump lawyer Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia, could testify against him

Features

Shashtho Chaka – Healthcare on Wheels has two buses, they plan to use one bus for the urban slums and another one for remote areas in villages.  Photos: Courtesy

Shashtho Chaka: Driving healthcare up to the doorstep of the poor

3h | Panorama
Russia has become increasingly critically dependent on Beijing. Even state-owned refiners in India are being pressured by Russian oil suppliers to pay in yuan.
Photo: Bloomberg

The yuan is finally showing some muscle in international trade

3h | Panorama
Khandaker Hasib Rafin’s Starlet Glanza V is one of the finest examples of the model to roam around Dhaka’s streets. Photo: Akif Hamid

1999 Starlet Glanza V: The uncrowned prince

20h | Wheels
Jamal Jamaloo: The song, dance and magic

Jamal Jamaloo: The song, dance and magic

21h | Features

More Videos from TBS

Unemployment among Asian workers and Black men rises in November

Unemployment among Asian workers and Black men rises in November

10m | TBS World
Installation of 5% of target EFD machines in 3 years

Installation of 5% of target EFD machines in 3 years

10m | TBS Economy
Wealth and income of ministers and state ministers increased

Wealth and income of ministers and state ministers increased

15h | TBS Stories
Fake toll plaza on Indian highway

Fake toll plaza on Indian highway

14h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net