Supreme Court denies Trump's documents request in Mar-a-Lago case


It's a bad day to be former President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the former president's request to intervene in the ongoing dispute over documents seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
More specifically, Trump had last week asked the justices to reconsider a portion of a lower court's order that exempted 103 of the recovered documents from a special master, or outside third party, review. The Justice Department then argued that allowing an outside arbiter to analyze the classified documents would "irreparably injure" the government, per the The Washington Post. Raymond Dearie, the special master in the case, is otherwise reviewing the remaining FBI-seized documents to see if "any should be shielded from investigators because of attorney-client or executive privilege," the Post writes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The court's Thursday response to the former president's emergency request was brief, and but a sentence long: "The application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Sept. 21, 2022, presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the court is denied." There were no noted dissents.
As a result of the order, neither Dearie nor Trump's legal team will have access to the 100-some documents in question, notes The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Can Trump's team make the MAGA playbook work for Albania's elections?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The architects of the president's 2024 victory are looking east to extend their populist reach
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Carney and Trump come face-to-face as bilateral tensions mount
IN THE SPOTLIGHT For his first sit-down with an unpredictable frenemy, the Canadian prime minister elected on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment tried for an awkward detente
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
How does the Alien Enemies Act work?
Feature President Trump is using a long-dormant law to deport Venezuelans. How does it work?
-
Baby bonus: Can Trump boost the birth rate?
Feature The Trump administration is encouraging Americans to have more babies while also cutting funding for maternal and postpartum care