Lawyers for former U.S. President Donald Trump have announced their opposition to the Department of Justice’s request to continue reviewing the classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate last month in an ongoing criminal investigation. Trump's lawyers also requested in a court memorandum that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon compel an independent arbiter, known as the special master, to include approximately 100 classified documents in her review of over 11,000 documents retrieved during the court-approved search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump is being investigated for retaining government records, some of which are classified as top secret, at Mar-a-Lago following his departure from office in January 2021. The government is also investigating potential obstruction of the investigation.
The FBI had discovered more than 11,000 documents and government photographs during the raid on Trump's residence on August 8, according to court records from West Palm Beach, presided over by Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing this contentious case that occupies the attention of the American public.
Among the more than 11,000 documents and photographs, 18 were classified as "top secret," 54 as "secret," and 31 as "private," according to a Reuters count of the government’s inventory. There were 90 empty files, of which 48 were marked “classified,” while some others indicated the need to return them to the Secretary of the Army/military aide.
It is unclear why these files are empty or if there are missing records. The Department of Justice previously revealed in court documents that it has evidence of the intentional concealment of classified documents from the FBI when it attempted to recover them from Trump’s home in June.
