WASHINGTON - Former US president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday urging a court to name an independent party to screen files that the FBI seized from his Florida home for materials protected by personal privilege.
The special master -- who would not act at the direction of the Justice Department, which ordered the raid -- would evaluate the documents and determine which ones Trump could retain as "privileged," or protected from use in investigations. Besides potentially violating laws governing highly sensitive records, the department indicated the materials were also important in unspecified ongoing federal investigations.
Naming a special master could potentially block investigators' access to the documents, especially if he or she accepts Trump's claims that most were privileged.