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Senior federal judge Raymond Dearie, appointed by another judge
to vet the documents to assess whether some should be withheld
from investigators as privileged, also asked the Justice
Department to certify by Monday a detailed property inventory of
materials the FBI seized in the court-approved Aug. 8 search of
Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach.
Dearie asked Trump's lawyers to submit by Sept. 30 a list of
specific items in that inventory "that plaintiff asserts were
not seized from the premises." Dearie also asked them to submit
any corrections to the government's list by that date including
items they believe were seized at Mar-a-Lago but not listed in
the inventory.
"This submission shall be plaintiff's (Trump's) final
opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness
and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory," wrote Dearie,
serving as an independent arbiter known as a special master.
The search was conducted as part of a federal criminal
investigation into whether Trump illegally retained documents
from the White House when he left office in January 2021 after
his failed 2020 re-election bid and whether Trump tried to
obstruct the probe.
Trump has called the investigation politically motivated. He
also has claimed, without providing evidence, both that he had
declassified any documents found at Mar-a-Lago and that the FBI
planted documents.
On Trump's request, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appointed
Dearie to vet the materials. The Justice Department has said
more than 11,000 documents were seized, including about 100
documents marked as classified.
A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the Justice
Department can resume reviewing those classified records in its
criminal investigation. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals also precluded Dearie from vetting those
documents marked classified.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Wil
Dunham)
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