Former President Donald Trump's attorneys on Monday said they oppose the U.S. Justice Department's request to continue to review classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate last month.
WASHINGTON -Former President Donald Trump's attorneys on Monday said they oppose the U.S. Justice Department's request to continue to review classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate last month in an ongoing criminal investigation.
His lawyers in the filing said Trump disputes the Justice Department's claim that the 100 records in question are in fact classified, and they reminded Cannon that a president generally has broad powers to declassify records. The clash between the Justice Department and Trump over how to treat classified material puts Cannon on the hot seat to make a decision. If she rules that the Justice Department cannot continue relying on the classified materials for its criminal probe or insists on letting the special master review them, prosecutors have threatened to appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
About two weeks after the FBI searched Trump's home, his attorneys filed a civil lawsuit demanding the appointment of a special master to review the seized records for materials that could be covered by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege - a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.