(Washington) The US Department of Justice said Thursday it would appeal a federal judge’s decision to authorize the appointment of an independent expert to review documents seized by the FBI during a search of Donald Trump.
Posted at 7:13 p.m.
The Republican billionaire had demanded that the courts appoint an independent third party to examine the papers seized during this spectacular and unprecedented police operation for a former president, in order to determine which could be returned to him or be classified as “confidential” – and would therefore not be usable in the investigations targeting him.
Magistrate Aileen Cannon, whom Mr. Trump himself appointed in 2020, decided on September 5 to grant his request, a victory for the ex-president.
In addition to announcing its upcoming appeal, the Justice Department requested a stay of the judge’s ruling barring authorities from accessing top-secret documents in their investigation.
These documents belong to the executive and not to the former president, argued the department’s legal experts in substance.
The department had strongly opposed the appointment of an independent third party, saying it could block investigators’ access to documents “and would seriously harm government interests, including national security.”
Donald Trump reacted to the announcement of the department’s appeal by defending the decision of a “brave and brilliant judge”.
The FBI and the department “will spend millions of dollars and a great deal of time and energy appealing […] instead of fighting corruption and record crime unfolding before our eyes,” he said on his social network, Truth Social.
On August 8, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s residence in Florida, seizing boxes of confidential documents that the Republican had not returned after leaving the White House, despite multiple requests.
Since then, Donald Trump, who openly plans to run for president in 2024, storms against an act he considers “illegal and unconstitutional” and repeats that he was targeted for political reasons.
Investigators suspect the Republican of having violated an American law on espionage which very strictly regulates the possession of confidential documents. Donald Trump assured that these documents had been declassified.
The detailed list of what was seized in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago also shows that Mr. Trump had kept more than 11,000 secret, state-related unclassified documents. Tells him he has the right to keep them, but they legally go to the National Archives.