Appeals court: Trump merits no 'special master' for seized files nor 'special exception' to criminal law
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Thursday that a federal judge in Florida erred in granting former President Donald Trump's request for a "special master" to review the thousands of documents the FBI took from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in an August raid. The unsparing ruling was a victory for the Justice Department, a big defeat for Trump, and an embarrassing rebuke of Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who approved Trump's request and appointed the special master.
The appellate judges — all appointed by Republican presidents, and two by Trump himself — gave Trump seven days to appeal. If the Supreme Court declines to stay the ruling, the Justice Department will get back unfettered access to all the seized documents next Thursday. That would also abruptly halt the work of the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, who, while skeptical of Trump's claims, "has been hard at work in the case," Politico reports.
The appellate court's decision centers on its view that Judge Cannon had wrongly claimed jurisdiction in the case. But the judges also rejected each argument from Trump and his attorneys for why the former president deserved a special master, or any special carve-out.
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 law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant," the judges wrote. "Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so." Creating "a special exception here would defy our nation's foundational principle that our law applies 'to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank,'" they added later.
The judges at times "seemed to mock arguments put forward by Trump's attorneys," Politico noted, as when they agreed Trump may want prosecutors to return his "golf shirts" and "pictures of Celine Dion," but said "we do not see the need for their immediate return after seizure under a presumptively lawful search warrant."
In considering the Trump team's arguments, the judges concluded, "we are faced with a choice: apply our usual test; drastically expand the availability of equitable jurisdiction for every subject of a search warrant; or carve out an unprecedented exception in our law for former presidents. We choose the first option. So the case must be dismissed."
Regaining access to all the seized files should help federal investigators, now working under Special Counsel Jack Smith, accelerate their criminal investigation of Trump's retention of highly classified documents and potential theft of government records and obstruction of justice.
-
The environmental cost of GLP-1sThe explainer Producing the drugs is a dirty process
-
Nuuk becomes ground zero for Greenland’s diplomatic straitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT A flurry of new consular activity in the remote Danish protectorate shows how important Greenland has become to Europeans’ anxiety about American imperialism
-
‘This is something that happens all too often’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
