U.S. News
Appeals Court grants DOJ access to classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted the Department of Justice access to classified documents seized from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
- This will allow DOJ officials to continue reviewing the documents for possible criminal charges.
- The court panel was comprised of two judges appointed by Trump and one who was appointed by former President Obama.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted the Department of Justice’s request to continue its review of classified documents seized by the FBI at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
The court panel was comprised of two judges appointed by Trump and one who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. The three judges indicated in their opinion that there appeared to be no evidence that Trump declassified the documents while he was still president. They added that Trump’s lawyers “resisted” providing any evidence that he did so using official channels.
The judges also questioned why Trump would “have an individual interest in or need for any of the one-hundred documents with classification markings.”
“Plaintiff has not even attempted to show that he has a need to know the information contained in the classified documents. Nor has he established that the current administration has waived that requirement for these documents,” they wrote in the opinion.
The three judges noted the DOJ’s argument that the lower court “erred in exercising its jurisdiction to enjoin the United States’s use of the classified records in its criminal investigation and to require the United States to submit the marked classified documents to a special master for review.”
“We agree,” the appellate judges wrote.
In their opinion, the three judges also allowed a review by a special master appointed by a federal judge in Florida to continue simultaneously. The Justice Department also appealed that appointment but eventually agreed to one of the Trump team’s candidates for the position, Judge Raymond Dearie, who is currently serving in the role.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had temporarily barred DOJ investigators from using the documents in its probe weighing whether to bring criminal charges against Trump that involve possible violations of the Espionage Act as well as other federal decrees.
On Friday, The Justice Department asked the court for access to classified documents seized from Trump’s estate on August 8. The DOJ appealed a lower court ruling that has prohibited prosecutors from using those records while investigating Trump’s ‘mishandling’ of government documents.
DOJ officials said in a court motion that the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago include highly sensitive documents and that prohibiting prosecutors access to those records would hinder their investigation at a heightened risk to national security.
In a hearing Tuesday before Judge Dearie, Trump’s legal team failed to provide evidence the former president declassified any of the documents.
Source: USA Today
Colby Goodson
September 23, 2022 at 7:17 am
What are the criminal charges? So the DOJ is weaponizing its ability to go after the man, not the crime?
Sean Rickman
September 23, 2022 at 11:31 am
The FBI,DOJ are not as much out to get PRESIDENT TRUMP as they are attempting to shut down conservatives and Patriotic AMERICANS who like to make AMERICA go back to the days before barry obama and joey biden.
Edwin M Cooper
September 23, 2022 at 7:53 am
Does anyone believe that the DOJ or the current administration will make any effort to produce any records that slow Trump did declassify the document he had in his possession, do you believe that the documents supposedly in the DOJ’s possession were in fact removed from the results of the raid, or just possibly planted amongst them by corrupt DOJ and FBI agents, either during or after the fact! Don’t believe Trump can get a fair or impartial review by the corrupt government officials period, been after him relentlessly for 6 years, and every charge has been proven false and manufactured by the liberal democrats and their minions… I believe this too is nothing more than a false attempt to keep Trump from running for President, as they cannot produce a worthy candidate themselves, just look at the two worthless humans they put in office, and had to cheat to accomplish that!
Gene
September 23, 2022 at 9:15 am
I don’t believe the court system in the US is just right now no matter who put them in place.When the FBI can be used by one party and not the other it isn’t justice any more. This is what is going on in the US today. Many of the judges are not even christian, how can they judge with their hand on the bible during swearing in process. The country politicians have corrupted this country so much the criminals have more rights than the victims. That is why the justice system put more victims in jail than criminals. A man goes into a store and tries to rob the owner, the owner defends himself with a firearm, that was legally obtained. The Man doing the robbing has an unregistered handgun and gets shot and killed. The owner of the store now is being tried for murder, this is what I mean by saying the justice system is broke in this country.
franklin archambault
September 23, 2022 at 10:15 am
the proper term is planted and the FBI did it
David Dutra
September 23, 2022 at 2:25 pm
His own appointed judges are calling them out for what he is.
His attorney’s are getting indicated for obstructing justice or found to be FOREIN GOVERNMENT agents that he wanted to view those classified documents. It’s really hard to believe that this maniac was allowed to stay under the radar this long…
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT “DING-DON THE WITCH” IS DONE ! ! !
Jason Green
September 23, 2022 at 3:16 pm
And Biden is next to go down.
Nora
September 23, 2022 at 4:22 pm
None of this will hold,they have a rude awakening coming there way.Praise the Lord.i have no worries,God is in Control.my feelings.
Gene King
September 25, 2022 at 11:37 pm
Agree, our God is bigger than all of this. He sees ALL the evil being played out and how wicked and corrupt our Govt. and the FBI have become over the years. He will not allow this decay to continue much longer including the total disregard for the lives of the unborn at the hands of self centered, irresponsible, reckless,
uncaring individuals and legislators. God will avenge their deaths.