Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s team may not have returned all classified files removed from the White House at the end of his presidency, even after an FBI search of his home, warned U.S. attorneys on Thursday. a potential national security risk that warrants investigation. That revelation came in a Justice Department lawsuit asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to allow her to continue reviewing about 100 classified files seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate while she investigates whether classified documents illegally removed from the White House and improperly stored there. Trump is under investigation for keeping government records, some of which have been classified as highly classified, at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort home after he leaves office in January 2021. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up The 100 documents represent a fraction of more than 11,000 seized files and photos, most of which the administration said Trump can review because they are not classified. “This motion is limited to the … seized classified records because those aspects of the order will cause the most immediate and serious harm to the government and the public,” the department said in its court filing. Prosecutors also asked the judge not to allow an independent arbitrator, called a “special master,” to review classified material seized from Trump’s estate. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, described the request as a waste of money. The Justice Department on Thursday suggested there could be more classified files removed from the Trump White House that investigators have yet to locate. That revelation comes about a week after the Justice Department released a detailed list of assets seized from Trump’s home, which showed the FBI found 48 empty files labeled classified and another 42 that indicated they should be returned to a secretary or military assistant. Legal experts were confused as to why the files were empty and it was unclear whether files were missing. “Without waiting, the government and the public will also suffer irreparable harm from the unwarranted delay of the criminal investigation,” prosecutors wrote. “An injunction against the use of classified records in a criminal investigation could hinder efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not properly stored – which itself presents the potential for a continuing risk to national security,” they added.
READY FOR APPEAL
Prosecutors have asked Cannon to issue a ruling by Sept. 15. If their request is denied, they plan to appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where six of the 11 active judges are Trump appointees. In an order late Thursday, Cannon gave Trump’s lawyers until Monday morning to respond to the government’s request. Cannon, also a Trump appointee, on Monday ordered prosecutors to halt their review of the more than 11,000 recovered records while a special master is appointed to review the material. The Justice Department said Friday it would provide the court with a list of potential special nominees in a joint filing with Trump’s lawyers, as Cannon requested. The Justice Department is also investigating possible obstruction of justice after it revealed evidence showing records may have been removed or withheld by the FBI when it sent agents to Trump’s home in June to try to retrieve all the classified documents through a subpoena. Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master, over prosecutors’ objections. The judge said the special master will review documents not only covered by attorney-client privilege, but also any records also covered by executive privilege. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that can protect certain presidential records from disclosure. The Justice Department questioned the logic of using executive privilege because Trump does not own the records and is no longer president. Cannon’s reasoning has also been criticized by Democratic and Republican legal experts. “No potential assertion of executive privilege could justify limiting the review and use of the classified records at issue here,” the Justice Department wrote in its filing Thursday. Cannon’s order Monday allowed U.S. intelligence officials to review all seized materials as part of an ongoing national security damage assessment. But the Justice Department said there was no way to stop the criminal investigation and national security review. “The Intelligence Community’s ongoing classification review and assessment is closely related to—and cannot be easily separated from—areas of investigation of the DOJ and FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation,” prosecutors said. Some legal experts on Thursday praised the Justice Department’s approach to Cannon’s order, saying it carefully reserved its right to appeal broader concerns about a special master appointment, while also asking Cannon for a much narrower solution to larger concerns. “I think the administration has embarked on a smart tactical strategy,” said David Laufman, a lawyer who previously served as head of the department’s counterintelligence division. He said the department’s legal strategy is taking “a scalpel” at Cannon’s mandate by seeking immediate relief from his worst points while preserving his right to appeal in the future. “They focus on what is most critical and time-sensitive, both in terms of protecting the national security interests of the United States and conducting follow-up investigative actions,” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Sarah N. Lynch? additional reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen. Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Josie Kao Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
