Judge Grants Trump’s “Special Master” Request To Review Seized Materials From Mar-A-Lago FBI Raid

Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen M. Cannon has made the official determination to grant former President Donald Trump’s request to have a “special master” appointed to review the materials seized by the FBI during the August Mar-a-Lago raid.

Cannon has ordered that a non-governmental third-party attorney be appointed to review all materials removed from Trump’s home, including material which might be subject to attorney-client privilege and potentially executive privilege as well.

“The Court hereby authorizes the appointment of a special master to review the seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege.”

Trump’s legal team argued for the necessity of a special master due to their inability to trust the Justice Department to be fair and impartial regarding the identification and exclusion of privileged material unrelated to the criminal probe.

In her ruling, Cannon wrote,

“As a function of Plaintiff’s former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own. A future indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude.”

Cannon backed up her decision by explaining that the appointment of a special master is in the best interest of “ensuring the integrity of an orderly process amidst swirling allegations of bias and media leaks.” Cannon also noted,

“To appoint a special master to make privilege determinations while simultaneously allowing the Government, in the interim, to continue using potentially privileged material for investigative purposes would be to ignore the pressing concerns and hope for the best.”

The order calls for the Justice Department to halt its review of the seized materials “pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.” However, the classification review and intelligence assessment currently being conducted through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence may continue.

“Furthermore, in natural conjunction with that appointment, and consistent with the value and sequence of special master procedures, the Court also temporarily enjoins the Government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.”

Both the government and Trump’s legal team have until Friday to nominate candidates for the special master.