Judge announces 'preliminary intent' to appoint special master to review Mar-a-Lago documents
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued a two-page order on Saturday signaling her "preliminary intent" to grant former President Donald Trump's request that the court appoint a special master.
The special master, a third-party attorney, would be charged with examining the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago and determining whether any of them fall outside the scope of the search warrant that prompted the raid. Trump's legal team filed a court motion last week requesting that the court block the FBI from reviewing any of the classified materials obtained from Mar-a-Lago until a special master could review them.
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Cannon also told the Justice Department to provide her with more information about the classified records taken from the former president's residence. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1 at 1:00 p.m. in West Palm Beach, Florida.
On Saturday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social that a "Federal Judge in Florida" — Cannon — "just took over the Presidential Records Act case, including the unprecedented, unnecessary, and unannounced FBI/DOJ Raid (Break-In!) of my home." He did not mention her statements about his request for a special master.
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