In major setback for Trump, appeals court ends special master's review of seized Mar-a-Lago records
NBCNov 26, 2022
The Facts
On Thursday, the three-judge US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed a Florida federal judge's ruling that prohibited the FBI and Dept. of Justice (DOJ) from using nearly all documents seized in the raid of former Pres. Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence on Aug. 8 in their investigation.
The decision suspends the third-party special master review of the documents, as had been ordered by US District Judge Aileen Cannon. The court wrote that "the law is clear" and that it can't write a rule "to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant."
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
Trump's legal team hasn't been treated within their legal rights throughout this entire convoluted mess created by the DOJ. Under the pretense of "national security interest," they've been denied access to the warrant's contents and its probable cause affidavit. How can we know if Trump's fourth Amendment rights were violated if the DOJ isn't required to produce the legal basis of the warrant?
Democratic narrative
The decision is a decisive defeat for Trump and is unlikely to be overturned in the event of an appeal. It's not surprising given the justified skepticism of the mostly-Trump-appointed panel, which rightly resisted the former president's attempts to secure preferential treatment.
