Former President Donald Trump is considering submitting a court application requesting the appointment of a “special master” to evaluate and return material seized during the FBI’s investigation of his Mar-a-Lago residence last week, according to one of his attorneys.
Attorney Jim Trusty stated on Mark Levin’s radio program that the filing may come as early as Friday night or as late as Monday.
“It will likely take several hours,” Trusty added. It will arrive pretty soon.
Friday, two sources familiar with the conversations confirmed to CBS News the anticipated court filing. According to reports, Trump’s legal team is considering filing the request in federal district court in Florida.
Friday, Trump also proposed this motion in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump stated in part, “A big motion pertaining to the Fourth Amendment will shortly be filed about the illegal Break-In of my home, Mar-a-Lago, just before the crucial Midterm Elections.”
According to a source close to Trump, the former president and his attorneys are eager for federal prosecutors to furnish them with a more thorough inventory of the materials seized and to ensure that a “neutral” person reviews the documents.
Trusty told Levin that the complaint will assert that the FBI’s seizure was “overbroad,” in violation of the law’s mandate that a search be “limited.”
Trusty stated that Trump’s legal team will argue that a special master is required to review the seizure in order to prevent the seizure of evidence protected by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.
“Privilege problems are of the utmost importance here,” Trusty told Levin. We believe that one of the advantages of the special master, if the master agrees, is that we can stop DOJ from scrutinizing these records.
According to sources, Trump’s legal team may seek relief under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure governing searches. At least two rules, 41(f) and 41, could be cited in particular: (g). Trustworthy specifically referenced Rule 41(f) throughout the interview.
This regulation concerns the execution of the search warrant. It adds that the officer executing the order “shall prepare and verify an inventory of any property seized” and must present the individual whose property was seized with “a copy of the warrant and a receipt for the items.”
A motion based on this rule would demand the complete return of all things seized on the grounds that the search was conducted improperly. Rule 41(g) is referred to as a “move to return property.” It adds, “A person who is aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property or by the deprivation of property may petition for the restitution of the property.”
Former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida David Weinstein told CBS News that such a submission would initiate a procedure that includes listing evidence, assessing whether property is of evidentiary value, and then contesting it.
Weinstein told CBS News on Friday, “I expect the government’s response will be that we believe everything we collected is of evidentiary significance.”
In an interview with CBS News on Friday, Ty Cobb, a former White House counsel for Donald Trump, said that the government may also favor a special master in order to “err on the side of caution.”
Cobb stated, “This prosecution and inquiry of a former president is extraordinary.” Since this has never occurred before, I believe I would adhere to the letter of the law.
According to the unsealed search warrant, FBI agents executed a search at Mar-a-Lago on August 8, which was authorized by Attorney General Merrick Garland, and seized eleven sets of classified papers. Boxes marked “top secret,” “secret,” “confidential,” and “top secret/sensitive compartmented information” were collected by the operatives.
The warrant disclosed that the Department of Justice is investigating Trump for violations of three criminal statutes, including the Espionage Act.
According to sources speaking to CBS News, the search was related to a probe by the Justice Department investigating accusations by the National Archives that it discovered 15 boxes of records, including secret information, at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.
Two sources informed CBS News that a Trump attorney signed a letter verifying that all sensitive information had been removed from Mar-a-Lago many weeks before the search.