Justice Department asks appeals court to block Trump judge's Mar-a-Lago ruling
The Department of Justice is asking a federal appeals court to temporarily block a Trump-appointed judge’s ruling that prevents it from accessing hundreds of
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is asking a federal appeals court to temporarily block a Trump-appointed judge’s ruling that prevents it from accessing hundreds of pages of classified records seized amid the thousands of pages of government documents taken from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home.
“The district court has entered an unprecedented order enjoining the Executive Branch’s use of its own highly classified records in a criminal investigation with direct implications for national security,” the Justice Department wrote in its motion Friday.
The Justice Department had previously argued that any delay in its investigation into Donald Trump's handling and retention of government records, including classified records, could result in “irreparable harm” to the government and the public.
President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, on Nov. 1, 2019 in Palm Beach, Fla.Joe Raedle / Getty Images fileOn Thursday night, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon denied its request to allow the FBI to continue to use the hundreds of pages of classified records seized from Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. She simultaneously appointed senior U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie as a special master, and — in an unprecedented move — gave him authority to make decisions on questions of executive privilege after a request from Trump's team.
The Justice Department on Friday argued that any considerations of claims for return of property or attorney-client and executive privilege were “categorically inapplicable to the records bearing classification markings.”
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