Former US President Donald Trump has asked a judge to stop the Justice Department’s investigation into the files seized from his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
In one case, the legal team requested that an independent attorney be appointed to oversee documents that FBI agents, the US federal police, obtained from the scene earlier this month.
According to the FBI, 11 sets of classified files were retrieved from Trump’s Florida property on August 8.
Trump is being investigated for possible irregularities in the processing of official documents.
U.S. presidents are required to transfer all their documents and emails to a government agency called the National Archive, and the FBI is investigating whether Trump improperly manipulated the records and then took them from the White House to Mar-a-Lago. .
Trump denies any wrongdoing and says the items have been declassified, meaning they have lost their classification as private or restricted access.
In the 27-page document submitted to the Florida court, Trump’s legal team accuses the Justice Department’s call of wanting to “search for politically useful documents or support efforts to prevent President Trump from running again.”
“President Donald J Trump is clearly ahead in the 2024 Republican presidential primary and the 2024 general election if he chooses to run,” it writes. “Law enforcement is a shield that protects Americans,” he continues. “It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes.”
Trump’s lawyers said the “shockingly offensive action” at Mar-a-Lago by nearly two dozen FBI agents had taken place “without realizing the distress it would cause to most Americans.”
The Justice Department said in a brief statement that prosecutors are aware of Trump’s case and will respond in court.
“The Mar-a-Lago search warrant was authorized by a federal court after probable cause was deemed necessary,” said agency spokesman Anthony Coley.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported on Monday, 22/8, that agents have so far recovered more than 300 documents bearing Trump’s national security markings, including material from the CIA, Security Agency, National and FBI.
Trump’s appeal was filed the same day in West Palm Beach, Florida, before a judge appointed by the former president in 2020.
His lawyers in the case want a more detailed list of exactly what was taken from his property. They also charge the government for returning any item not covered by a search warrant.
Trump’s defense team also requested that an “impartial” third-party attorney be brought in to determine whether the seized files would fall under “executive privilege,” which allows presidents to keep certain communications private.
These attorneys are typically commissioned in criminal cases where there are concerns that some evidence may be protected under attorney-client privilege or other protections.
The lawsuit argues that Trump cooperated with the agents before he came to the FBI’s home without notice.
His lawyers say the warrant is too broad and violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects Americans from arbitrary searches and seizures.
The legal team also accuses the government of leaking “always changing and uncertain motives” to privileged media.
Image: Reuters
Three days after the call, Trump’s legal team said they contacted an FBI agent who visited Mar-a-Lago in June to seek help and deliver a personal message from the former president to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The text message recorded in Monday’s lawsuit said Trump had “heard from people across the country about the attack.”
Trump’s message continued: “If there was one word to describe moods, it would be ‘anger’.
“The temperature is rising. The pressure is rising. Anything I can do to reduce the heat, lower the pressure, just let us know.”
Approving an unprecedented criminal investigation order involving the residence of a former US president, the judge is still deciding whether to release sworn evidence presented as grounds for the FBI search.
On Monday, Magistrate Bruce Reinhart said he believed the government’s proposed testimony for affidavit was so extensive that it would render it “meaningless” if released, but should not have remained completely confidential for public interest reasons in the case.
Trump previously claimed he had done nothing wrong, arguing that when he left office in January 2021, he had already declassified all documents he received from the White House.
– This text has been published actually inside https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62643944
source: Noticias
