Trump lawyers, DOJ to go head-to-head over 'special master' appointment in key Mar-a-Lago hearing

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon declined to issue a ruling Thursday on whether she would appoint a "special master" to review documents the FBI took from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

A written ruling will come "in due course," the judge said.

Christopher Kise, one of Trump's attorneys, argued that the temperature in the country is "very high" and criticized the government for including a picture in a court filing this week showing documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, describing the photo as "perfectly staged."

Jay Bratt, the chief of DOJ's counterintelligence and export control section, told the judge that the former president was “in unlawful possession of the records.”

Thursday's hearing came after the former president requested a "special master" to review documents seized in the search, arguing that some of them are covered by executive privilege.

Cannon's written ruling could be issued later today, on Friday, or next week.

Read more here: Trump FBI raid: Judge delays ruling on ‘special master’ after key hearing

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump will square off with Justice Department prosecutors in a Florida courtroom later Thursday. Trump is seeking to appoint a "special master" to review documents the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago.

Judge Aileen Cannon will hear the case at 1 p.m. ET. The hearing will be the latest legal battle over the FBI's investigation into whether Trump illegally possessed classified national security documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Attorneys at the Department of Justice argued in a filing earlier this week that appointing a special master is unnecessary. The filing stated that "government records were likely concealed and removed" from a storage room in Mar-a-Lago, "and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation."

A special master would be a third party that independently reviews the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago. Trump argues the DOJ should not have the final say on reviewing the FBI's work

The DOJ argues Trump has no right to the documents, however, stating that they belong to the U.S. government. It also argued that Trump had no valid claim to executive privilege because the DOJ is part of the Executive Branch.

Trump's lawyers have discussed preparing a joint list of potential special master candidates with DOJ attorneys. Any candidate would be required to have Top Secret or SCI security clearance.

Read more here.

Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump's attorneys will argue for a "special master" to be appointed to handle the documents the FBI took in the raid against his Mar-a-Lago home Thursday.

Attorneys at the Department of Justice argued in a filing earlier this week that such an appointment is unnecessary. The filing stated that "government records were likely concealed and removed" from a storage room in Mar-a-Lago, "and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation."

Trump's attorneys responded to the DOJ's filing with a blistering statement Wednesday night,

"The United States Attorney’s Office, has filed an extraordinary document with this Court, suggesting that the DOJ, and the DOJ alone, should be entrusted with the responsibility of evaluating its unjustified pursuit of criminalizing a former President’s possession of personal and Presidential records in a secure setting," Trump's lawyers wrote.

"The Government twists the framework of responding to a motion for a Special Master into an all-encompassing challenge to any judicial consideration, presently or in the future, of any aspect of its unprecedented behavior in this investigation," Trump's lawyers continued.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon will hear the case Thursday afternoon.

Former President Trump on Sunday accused the Department of Justice and the FBI of practicing election interference “at the highest and most dishonest level our country has ever seen before, both in the Midterms, and the 2024 Presidential Election.”

“They allowed spying on my campaign (and did nothing!), told Facebook and the Media that the Laptop from Hell was “Russian Disinformation” (it wasn’t!), and now they don’t want anyone to read the words and meaning of the very important Presidential Records Act, under which I did nothing wrong, BUT THEY DID – RAID!,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

Former President Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday that the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8 is a "disgrace to our now Third World Nation!"

Trump also alleged that the raid was conducted for "political purposes."

"Federal Judge in Florida just took over the Presidential Records Act case, including the unprecedented, unnecessary, and unannounced FBI/DOJ Raid (Break-In!) of my home, Mar-a-Lago. This assault was done for political purposes just prior to the Midterm Elections (and 2024, of course!). It is a disgrace to our now Third World Nation!," Trump said.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines along with other officials will give an "assessment" to top lawmakers about "the potential risk" to national security posed by former President Trump allegedly keeping top secret documents at his Florida residence, Fox News has learned.

Haines sent a letter to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. as well as Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and informed them both about the decision.

In a joint statement, Reps. Maloney and Schiff said that they are "pleased" by the decision."

We are pleased that in response to our inquiry, Director Haines has confirmed that the Intelligence Community and Department of Justice are assessing the damage caused by the improper storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The DOJ affidavit, partially unsealed yesterday, affirms our grave concern that among the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago were those that could endanger human sources. It is critical that the IC move swiftly to assess and, if necessary, to mitigate the damage done—a process that should proceed in parallel with DOJ’s criminal investigation," they wrote.

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump's legal team reacted for the first time to the heavily redacted FBI affidavit released Friday, saying what was not redacted raises "more questions than answers."

Trump's lawyers weighed in on the affidavit in a court filing Friday in which they again requested that a neutral third party be appointed to oversee the Department of Justice handling of evidence.

The attorneys cited the unsealing of the redacted affidavit as a reason for a judge to grant its motion for a "special master."

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Former President Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday that the FBI raid at his Florida residence on Aug. 8 is "one of the most egregious assaults on democracy."

"The Raid on my home, Mar-a-Lago, is one of the most egregious assaults on democracy in the history of our Country which is, by the way, going to places, in a very bad way, it has never seen before!," Trump said.

Former President Trump asked in a Truth Social post on Saturday when FBI agents are going to say “we aren’t going to take it anymore."

The post comes just one day after the Justice Department's unsealed affidavit was released.

"When are the great Agents, and others, in the FBI going to say “we aren’t going to take it anymore,” much as they did when James Comey read off a list of all of Crooked Hillary Clinton’s crimes, only to say that no reasonable prosecutor would prosecute. The wonderful people of the FBI went absolutely “nuts,” so Comey had to backtrack and do a FAKE INVESTIGATION in order to keep them at bay. The end result, we won in 2016 (and did MUCH better in 2020!). But now the “Left” has lost their minds!!," Trump said.

Trump also said that the "Fake News Media" is "by how well TRUTH is doing."

"The Fake News Media is devastated by how well TRUTH is doing so, quite on cue, they are working overtime to criticize and demean it. Actually, many of the big guns in Washington, D.C., are fighting to stop the TRUTH but, they won’t be successful. They are going after the outside financial company, and virtually anybody that walks and breaths, but that won’t do it. They said it is doing worse since the Raid, but actually it is doing MUCH better, up more than 550%. We all love TRUTH!!!," Trump said.

Lawmakers are outraged at the heavy redactions in the much-anticipated affidavit used to justify this month's raid on former President Trump's residence.

Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart unsealed a redacted affidavit Friday that the FBI used to obtain a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8.

"So much for transparency," Republican North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop wrote on social media following the documents' release.

Approximately 20 pages of the 38-page affidavit were either significantly or fully redacted.

For more on this story: Republican lawmakers rip DOJ Trump affidavit redactions: 'So much for transparency'

Fox News host Bret Baier provides analysis after the release of the redacted affidavit in the FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

The FBI, in the unsealed and redacted affidavit released by a federal judge Friday, wrote that "there is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the PREMISES."

Fox News' David Spunt, Martha MacCallum and Andy McCarthy provide analysis and reaction to the release of the redacted affidavit in the FBI raid of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Former President Donald Trump, in his first comments after a federal judge ordered the release of a redacted affidavit Friday that the FBI used to obtain a search warrant of his Mar-a-Lago property, says nothing was mentioned about "our close working relationship regarding document turnover - WE GAVE THEM MUCH.

"Judge Bruce Reinhart should NEVER have allowed the Break-In of my home. He recused himself two months ago from one of my cases based on his animosity and hatred of your favorite President, me," Trump wrote on his Truth social account. "What changed? Why hasn’t he recused himself on this case? Obama must be very proud of him right now!

The FBI said it had "probable cause to believe" that additional records containing classified information, including National Defense Information, would be found on the premises of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home beyond what he had previously turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration, according to the unsealed and heavily-redacted affidavit used to justify the raid released Friday. 

The affidavit was unsealed Friday, after U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart approved the DOJ’s proposed redactions to the document. 

Approximately 20 pages of the 38-page affidavit were either significantly or fully redacted.

"The government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records," the affidavit states. 

For more on this story: FBI said it had 'probable cause' to believe additional classified docs remained at Mar-a-Lago, affidavit says

The Justice Department had sent a letter to Trump's team to increase security at Mar-a-Lago after the FBI and Justice Department inspected the facility in early June, it has emerged.

"As I previously indicated to you, Mar-a-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information," the letter says. "As such, it appears that since the time classified documents were removed from the secure facilities at the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago on or around January 20, 2021, they have not been handled in an approp1iate manner or stored in an appropriate location."

"Accordingly, we ask that the room at Mar-a-Lago where the documents had been stored be secured and that all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until farther notice," it adds.

The redacted, 38-page affidavit unsealed Friday by a federal judge in Florida that the FBI used to obtain a search warrant of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property on Aug. 8 contains approximately 20 pages that are either significantly or fully redacted.

Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart has unsealed a redacted affidavit Friday that the FBI used to obtain a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8.

Read the redacted affidavit.