Lawyers for former US President Donald Trump on Monday opposed the Justice Department’s request to continue examining the contents of classified documents seized from his Florida property last month by the FBI as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
In a court filing, her lawyers also asked District Judge Aileen Cannon to include nearly 100 documents marked as confidential among the more than 11,000 entries found in the August material that were approved by the court by an independent arbitrator called a special expert.
In another development, the Department of Justice indicted a Texas woman, whom prosecutors accused of making phone threats to Cannon, including saying the judge was “marked for murder.” The incident marks the latest instance of threats reported against various federal officials in recent months.
After leaving office in January 2021, Trump is under investigation by the Justice Department for retaining government records at his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach property, some of which have been marked as highly classified, including “top secret.” into possible call barring.
A special expert who has not yet been appointed can prevent the ministry from using certain documents. FBI agents recovered the recordings during a court-approved search in August.
Cannon had previously prevented the department from immediately using the records seized in the investigation; This was a move that would slow down prosecutors’ work and make it harder for them to determine if additional classified material was missing.
In the document filed on Monday, Trump’s lawyers said the former president disputed the department’s claim that the 100 or so documents in question were actually classified, and reminded Cannon that a president usually has broad powers to declassify records. They did not go so far as to suggest that Trump declassified the documents, making this claim on social media, but not in court documents.
source: Noticias
