Donald Trump filed a new lawsuit involving the FBI raid on his Florida home. Tuesday, a Federal Judge (appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump) ordered Trump’s legal team to answer several key questions. The Judge wants to know why her Court should be the one to hear the case and what he wants her to accomplish.
In addition, Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Trump must explain how his lawsuit affects the case before a federal magistrate judge in the same Court and whether or not it has been served on the Department of Justice. Additionally, Cannon wants to know if Trump is seeking any injunctions regarding the raid’s materials.
Cannon’s order comes a day after Trump filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Trump’s legal team is asking her to appoint a special master to review documents seized on August 8 during an FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort residence in Palm Beach.
Judge Cannon gave him and his lawyers until Friday to answer her questions. Trump intends to prevent the DOJ from examining the seized documents until a special master examines them. There is usually a need to take this step when legal privileges may require withholding some evidence from prosecutors.
When Trump left office in January 2021, the DOJ began investigating the removal of White House documents. Under the law, presidential records must be turned over to the National Archives. An FBI search-and-seizure warrant shows that the DOJ is investigating espionage and obstruction of justice violations at Mar-a-Lago. A raid resulted in the seizure of multiple top-secret documents. In a statement, Trump claimed the raid was illegal and intended to harm his chances of regaining the White House if he runs again.
Cannon wrote in her order Tuesday: The Court has received Plaintiff’s Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief. Plaintiff will file a supplement to the Motion on or before August 26, 2022, that outlines: (1) the asserted basis for exercising this Court’s jurisdiction, whether legal, equitable/anomalous, or both; (2) the framework applicable to exercising such jurisdiction; Cannon wrote. Additionally, the Judge instructed Trump’s team to detail the relief they were seeking, including (3) any injunctive relief request pending resolution of the Motion; (4) how the proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart affected the case; and (5) how Plaintiff was progressing in perfecting service on Defendant.
Reinhart signed the warrant authorizing the raid. Media outlets have asked him to unseal an affidavit that the DOJ filed explaining the need for the search.
A letter from the National Archives said classified material had been found in boxes Trump handed over to that agency in January. According to the National Archives letter, among the 700 pages are top secret, sensitive compartmented information, and special access programs, according to the National Archives letter.
