by President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to step in and overturn a ruling that gave the Justice Department access documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago marked as classified.
The former president’s petition is directed to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose jurisdiction includes the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued the earlier ruling.
The former president’s team filed the emergency request with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that the special master, or independent arbitrator, appointed by the district judge to review documents for attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, should be allowed to review files marked as classified.
Last monthA three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed to stay a lower court’s order to keep classified records off-limits to the Justice Department’s investigation, pending a review by the independent special gentleman. The appeals court allowed the Justice Department to continue using those documents in its investigation and said it did not have to turn them over to the special master.
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Trump’s lawyers argued in Tuesday’s filing that “this unwarranted stay should be vacated as it materially impairs the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the Special Master.”
Trump’s lawyers are seeking relief through the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” meaning he would not go through the Court’s regular process of briefings, oral arguments and opinions. The Court will issue a written order, which may or may not explain the reasoning behind the decision or reveal how the justices voted, although they may note their disagreements.
While Trump was in the White House, his administration submitted 41 requests for emergency relief through the shadow, more often than the Bush and Obama administrations, according to an analysis by a University of Texas law professor.
Trump last week he told Fox News that he had “declassified everything” and presidents can do it just by “thinking about it.”
On Tuesday, in a statement separate from the deposition, Trump blasted the National Archives and Records Administration, the agency responsible for storing and handling records of past presidents.
“How can Americans trust a system like this? There is no security at NARA. I want my documents back!” Trump wrote.
Trump followed suit after the The FBI executed a search warrant at his private residence at Mar-a-Lago on August 8 and seized approximately 100 documents marked as classified. The former president filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on August 22, asking that a special master be appointed to review the seized records.
On Sept. 5, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida approved Trump’s request to appoint a special master. Ten days later, Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed US District Judge Raymond Dearie to serve as an independent arbitrator or special master. Cannon rejected a request by federal prosecutors to allow investigators to regain access to the roughly 100 documents marked classified. On September 21, the three-judge panel in the 11th Circuit allowed the Justice Department to allow investigators to once again access the documents.
The The Supreme Court began its new term on Mondayafter appointing the newest associate justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Kathryn Watson
