The American court accepted this Monday that an independent expert supervise the recovered official documents. at the residence of former President Donald Trumpin the state of Florida.
Judge Aileen Cannon ordered that this expert be in charge of reviewing the seized assets, managing the claims of executive privilege invoked in this regard, making recommendations and evaluating the requests for the return of assets.
The request for an independent expert had been made by Trump’s defense attorneys, who last Thursday argued that his appointment would give “confidence” to the investigation of official documents that the former president kept in his Florida mansion.
The judge’s decision, which gives the Trump team a small victory, came over strong objections from the Justice Department, which argued there was no need for an outside legal expert, in part because officials had already finished review potentially privileged documents.
The judge also suspended the use of the documents seized by the Justice Department for investigative purposes.
“The Court is aware that the restrictions to criminal proceedings are unfavorablebut believes that these unprecedented circumstances require a brief pause to allow for a neutral third party review to ensure a fair process with adequate safeguards.”
Investigators may, however, continue to analyze the documents “for purposes of classification and national security assessments,” according to the magistrate’s decision.
Trump’s lawyers argued that an outside expert is needed to ensure an independent review of the records made during the searches of the Republican’s mansion.
More than 100 classified documents recovered from Trump’s home in January
Such a review is necessary, according to Trump’s legal team, so that personal information or documents recovered by the FBI can be leaked and returned to the former president and so that privileged documents can also be separated from the rest of the investigation.
On August 8, FBI agents searched Trump’s property in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, removing dozens of boxes of classified documents, some not only marked top secret but also “compartmentalized confidential information“According to a report of what was taken.
The FBI operation was prompted by Trump’s possible violations of the Presidential Records Act, which requires all White House occupants to return presidential documents upon leaving office.
Agents searching the Republican mansion found dozens of empty folders marked confidential.
The inventory does not indicate why the folders are empty or what might have happened to the missing documents.
While the inventory does not describe any of the documents, it does show the extent to which classified information, including top secret material, was kept in boxes and containers mixed with newspapers, magazines, clothing and other personal items.
The United States Department of Justice evaluated there is no safe space in the trump mansion capable of keeping such sensitive government secrets and opened a criminal investigation focused on withholding those documents.
However, he points out that Justice Department officials described with concern the fact that the highly confidential information had been mixed with personal belongings of the former head of state.
Source: Observadora
