Donald Trump’s attorneys have recognized for the first time that the former president could be prosecuted for his behavior with the Mar-a-Lago document trove.
Monday, Trump’s team sent a letter to Raymond Dearie, the special master – an independent adjudicator – designated to oversee the FBI probe into the papers, detailing their issues with the investigation.
Trump’s attorneys wrote that they do not want Dearie to require Trump to “fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment without such a requirement being evident in the District Court’s order” – a statement indicating that Trump or his aides could be indicted for a crime.
The FBI is examining how more than 300 sensitive documents got up in Trump’s Florida residence and why they were taken from the White House rather than given to the national archives when Trump left office.
Saturday, Donald Trump is seen addressing a rally in Ohio. Monday, his attorneys sent a letter to Raymond Dearie, the special master, outlining their requests for a probe into the Mar-a-Lago records.
A renowned New York judge, Raymond Dearie, has been named special master to oversee the Mar-a-Lago probe.
Pictured on August 18 are documents relating to the search warrant for Trump’s estate.
On August 8, FBI officers executed a raid at Mar-a-Lago.
The FBI seized the first batch of records in January and a second batch in June. On August 8, while Trump was in Manhattan, agents searched the residence and removed the remaining documents.
Trump, 76, asserts that he had a system in place that immediately declassified any files he removed from the Oval Office.
Monday, though, Trump’s attorneys attempted to prevent Dearie from questioning about classification regulations.
They contended that Trump would be at a legal disadvantage if he answered questions about the alleged declassification mechanism at this stage of the proceedings, and they objected to Dearie’s request that it “disclose specific declassification material to the Court and the Government.”
Court Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge presiding over the case who consented to the special master review, has stated that Dearie must complete his study of the nearly 11,000 documents by November’s end.
Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, at the federal courthouse, Dearie will preside over the preliminary conference.
In a letter sent on Monday, Trump’s attorneys stated that they were “generally in agreement” with the timeframe, but that they wished to negotiate certain modifications before Tuesday’s session.
They were also concerned that some aspects of the case could be heard by US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who authorized the FBI’s search warrant. The counsel for Trump maintained that Cannon, a Trump appointee who appointed the special master, intended for the case to be conducted through the special master process, with Dearie’s recommendations ultimately being submitted to her.
The Justice Department did not address how Dearie should analyze the classified information in its own filing.
They asked Dearie to check in with the National Archives and Information Administration — the federal agency responsible for storing and tracking government records — as he performs the study, and advised monthly meetings with all sides to ensure the review process runs smoothly.
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