Former US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit demanding that a court appoint an independent party to review files the FBI seized at his Florida mansion.
Claiming to be the subject of a politically motivated investigation, Trump has requested that an “expert” be deployed to examine more than two dozen boxes seized in the unprecedented August 8 raid.
The expert, who will not act under the direction of the Department of Justice that ordered the operation, will examine the documents and determine which ones may be kept “exclusively” by Trump or protected from use in investigations.
“The raid, search and seizure of Mar-a-Lago was illegal and unconstitutional, and we are taking steps to recover these documents,” Trump said in a statement. Said.
They confiscated documents protected by attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.”
The FBI warrant said Trump was suspected of illegally obtaining top-secret documents and official records from the White House that he did not have and refused to return.
In addition to potential violations of top-secret recording laws, the department said these materials are also required for other unspecified ongoing federal investigations.
Cases that could incriminate the former president include the extensive investigation by Trump supporters into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and another investigation into his supporters’ efforts to manipulate the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Appointing an expert could prevent investigators from accessing the documents, especially if Trump’s thesis is accepted that most of them are privileged documents.
Also, the Justice Department could intervene if it considers accusing Trump of obstructing investigations by refusing to release these documents.
The complaint was filed not in the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the original decision was made, but in a more distant court in Fort Pierce, where the sole judge was appointed by Trump.
The lawsuit adds that “he is the clear favorite in the Republican primaries and in the 2024 general election if he chooses to run,” arguing that the FBI’s operation was politically motivated.
source: Noticias
