Legal experts were left reeling on Monday after a judge approved ex-President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review the documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago as Trump insists the materials are covered by executive privilege (actual sitting President Joe Biden has not claimed executive privilege over them).
Legal commentators, including national security lawyers and ex-Justice Department attorneys, put Trump appointed District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling on blast, saying that the move stymies the government’s investigation in a major boon to the ex-president:
I sincerely don’t know why anyone is surprised by this ruling. By all reports, this judge had no business being assigned or referred to the case. And that’s exactly what TFG’s legal team hoped for. She has put the brakes on the review of the documents and it could be months before the review can continue.
You know all that excitement we felt with the FBI search of ML? No more.
DOJ is presumably examining the documents for evidence (i.e., fingerprints) of the persons who’ve had access to them. This order seems to stop that. Ridiculous, since the classified documents are well outside any claim of attorney-client or even executive privilege.
I suggest that the FBI search Bedminster, Trump Tower and other Trump properties to look for the seemingly missing documents from the folders marked “classified.” That will give DOJ something to do while this dumb order has halted the examination of the Mar-a-Loco documents.
I guess there “Obama judges” and “Trump judges.” Or maybe real judges and fake judges.
I think it’s just shock that any judge would do something so brazenly unsustainable. They usually have some vestigial sense of shame, even if they’re appointed by TFG.
11th circuit appellate court appointees:
1 bush (the lesser)
1 clinton
3 obama
6 tfg
Any questions?
The Judge enjoined the investigation of the fruits of the search - not the criminal investigation. If the DoJ wants to press ahead aggressively, they should subpeona everyone around Trump including his dime store counsels, Meadows, Patel, and even THIS JUDGE WRT Obstruction.