Judge To Issue Decision ‘In Due Time’ Regarding Special Master Appointment Request By Donald Trump

A Florida judge heard arguments Thursday but did not make a ruling on former President Trump's motion to appoint a special master -- an independent third party -- to review the sensitive documents seized by the FBI last month at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Judge Aileen Cannon, nominated to the federal bench in 2020 by then-President Trump, took the arguments from both sides under advisement and said she would issue a written decision "in due time." Judge Cannon had indicated last weekend, when the motion was filed, that she was inclined to grant the request.

Trump has asked that a special master be appointed to review the hundreds of documents taken during the FBI's execution of a search warrant in August to potentially prevent the Department of Justice from retaining privileged documents.

In a filing submitted Wednesday, Trump's counsel wrote that the execution of a search warrant against a former president's home was "unprecedented, unnecessary, and legally unsupported.” They also argued that, without a special master, prosecutors would "impugn, leak and publicize" details of the investigation.

The attorneys for the former president also downplayed the government's concern with classified material found at Mar-a-Lago, writing that the "notion that presidential records would contain sensitive information should have never been cause for alarm."

But in their filing on Tuesday, Justice Department attorneys argued that a special master is "unnecessary" and appointing one "would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests."

In addition, the federal prosecutors said the FBI had evidence that "obstructive conduct" likely occurred at Mar-a-Lago, saying that "government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room" at Mar-a-Lago where Trump's attorneys said the sensitive documents had been stored.

During the Aug. 8 search, the government seized 33 boxes, containers or items of evidence from both the storage room and Trump's office, the filing said. An investigative team reviewing the materials found that 13 boxes or containers contained documents with classified markings, including more than 100 unique documents with classification markings.

The government believes Trump's attorneys misled the Justice Department when they told investigators on June 3 that all classified material responsive to a subpoena had been returned from the former president's residence after a "diligent search" of the property. They turned over 38 documents, prosecutors say.

"That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the 'diligent search' that the former President's counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations they made," reads the filing.

Experts said appointing a special master to determine if any of the seized documents are privileged may not have a substantive impact on the case, since the FBI said it's already reviewed all the documents, but it certainly could slow things down.