Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request over seized Mar-a-Lago documents - NBC News

WASHINGTON — The Biden medication connected Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to cull erstwhile President Donald Trump's petition to let the peculiar maestro reviewing documents seized from Mar-a-Lago entree to those marked arsenic classified.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said successful tribunal papers that Trump would endure "no harm astatine all" if the documents are temporarily withheld from the peculiar master. Addressing Trump's imaginable ownership involvement successful the documents, including imaginable assertions of attorney-client privilege of enforcement privilege, Prelogar said Trump had "no plausible claims."

Whatever the tribunal decides successful weighing Trump’s comparatively constrictive request, it volition not impact the Justice Department’s entree to the aforesaid documents successful its transgression investigation. The much than 100 classified documents are conscionable a tiny information of the 11,000 records seized by national agents amid concerns that Trump had unlawfully retained authoritative White House records aft leaving office.

Documents seized by the FBI from erstwhile President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property successful Palm Beach, Fla. Department of Justice via AP

The precocious tribunal is reviewing a Sept. 21 decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that barred the peculiar master, Judge Raymond Dearie, from reviewing the documents. Trump had not contested a abstracted portion of the ruling that allowed the Justice Department to usage the documents.

A determination by the Supreme Court is owed astatine immoderate time.

Prelogar said the lawsuit lone arose due to the fact that of an "unusual — so unprecedented — order" that was issued by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon successful effect to Trump's suit filed aft the authorities hunt of his Mar-a-Lago residence successful aboriginal August. Cannon prevented the authorities from utilizing the documents arsenic portion of a transgression investigation, a determination partially blocked by the appeals court, and appointed the peculiar maestro to reappraisal them.

"This exertion concerns an unprecedented bid by the territory tribunal restricting the Executive Branch’s usage of its ain highly classified records successful an ongoing transgression probe and directing the dissemination of those records extracurricular the Executive Branch for a special-master review," Prelogar wrote.

Trump’s lawyers had said the appeal's court's determination to artifact entree to the peculiar maestro “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive enactment of the peculiar master.” They added that "any bounds connected the broad and transparent reappraisal of materials seized successful the bonzer raid of a president’s location erodes nationalist assurance successful our strategy of justice."

The appeals tribunal said definite documents are deemed classified due to the fact that they incorporate accusation that could harm nationalist security, and for that crushed radical whitethorn person entree to them lone if they request to cognize that information.

Under national law, authoritative White House records are national spot and indispensable beryllium handed implicit to the National Archives erstwhile the president leaves office. Trump says helium did thing improper and wants Dearie to find the presumption of the documents, including those marked arsenic classified.

Although the Supreme Court has a 6-3 blimpish majority, including 3 justices helium appointed, Trump has not precocious fared good successful different exigency applications, including his effort to forestall White House documents from being handed implicit to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol, and his bid to debar disclosure of his fiscal records to prosecutors successful New York.