Trump‘s legal advisers are requesting that an independent attorney see the documents retrieved by FBI agents from his home in Mar-a-Lago.
According to the FBI, 11 series of “confidential” documents were seized during a search of Trump’s home on August 8.
Trump’s legal team, in the 27-page document submitted to the Florida court, USA He describes the search warrant issued by the Justice Department as “a harmless disastrous act” and accuses the department of “searching for politically useful documents” and “supporting efforts to prevent Trump from running for president again”.
The document states, “President Donald J Trump is far ahead among the 2024 Republican presidential candidates and if he decides to run in the 2024 Presidential Election. Legal sanctions are a shield that protects Americans. They cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes.”
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Trump’s lawyers describe the search of their client’s home by more than 20 FBI agents as “a shockingly aggressive act” and said it was done “without understanding the distress it would cause for many Americans”.
A brief statement from the Justice Department says prosecutors will respond to allegations in Trump’s case in court. “The search warrant in Mar-a-Lago was authorized by a federal court after probable cause was deemed necessary,” said spokesman Anthony Coley.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported on Monday that FBI agents had so far seized more than 300 classified Trump documents, including material from the CIA, the National Security Agency and the FBI.
Trump is demanding a more detailed list of what was taken from his property under the lawsuit and is asking the government to return any documents not covered by a search warrant.
His lawyers also want a “neutral” attorney to be brought in to determine whether the seized files fall within the “executive privilege” that allows US presidents to keep certain communications private. The court filing argues that Trump is already collaborating with FBI agents.
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Trump’s lawyers say the warrant is too broad and violates Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure.
The legal team also accuses the government of leaking “always changing and inaccurate “reasons” for the search to preferred media outlets.
The judge, who upheld this unprecedented criminal investigation order into the home of a former US president, has yet to make his decision on whether the affidavit provided as the reason for the FBI search should be made public.
On Monday, Magistrate Bruce Reinhart said the proposed government redactions for affidavit were so extensive that they made the statement “meaningless” when disclosed. However, he stated that he believed the statement should not be kept confidential given the public interest in the case.
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Claiming that he had done nothing wrong before, Trump stated that when he left office in January 2021, all documents he received from the White House had already been declassified by him.
U.S. presidents are required to transfer all their documents and email correspondence to a government agency called the National Archives after their terms in office.
The FBI is investigating whether Trump, who took his documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021, violated the confidentiality limit.
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