US Justice Department asks court to restore access to classified documents seized from Trump’s home
- The Justice Department also said a third-party appointed to examine the materials should not be allowed to review them
- There were roughly 100 classified documents among the 11,000 records the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort
In the filing before the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the Justice Department said the circuit court should halt part of the lower court decision that prevents prosecutors from relying on the classified documents in their criminal investigation into the retention of government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach after his presidency ended.
The department also asked that a third-party appointed to examine all the records taken in the federal raid at Trump’s part, senior US judge Raymond Dearie, not be permitted to review the classified materials.
The government asked the appeal court to rule on the request “as soon as practicable.”
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the unprecedented search of the former president’s property, the Justice Department has said it is investigating the retention of government records – some marked as highly classified, including “top secret” – as well as obstruction of a federal probe.