, however, that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence could continue to review the seized materials for its separate inquiry into whether Trump’s retention of documents with classified markings at Mar-a-Lago risked national security.
Trump has accused the DoJ of launching a partisan witch-hunt against him, and his lawyers argued that the appointment of an independent third party to review the materials would be an important check on the government. At a meeting on 3 June, Trump’s representatives falsely certified they had conducted a diligent search and returned all classified materials to the government – a claim that was later disproved after the FBI recovered about 33 boxes containing more than 11,000 government records and photos and more than 100 records marked as classified.
Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally to support local candidates in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.But Trump’s request was unique. Not only did his team want the special master to review traditional attorney-client privileged material, but they also told Cannon the special master was appropriate because some of the records could be subject to executive privilege – a legal doctrine that shields some White House communications.
“He is no longer the president,” Jay Bratt, the department’s top counter-intelligence lawyer, told Cannon at a 1 September hearing.The DoJ also said it made no sense to appoint a special master because its filter team – a group of agents who are not part of the investigation – had completed its work.
Many former DoJ attorneys, Democrats and Republicans, have criticized Trump’s call for a special master.