Judge grants Special Master

[Nevilledog]

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Ryan J. Reilly
@ryanjreilly
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NEW: Judge grants Trump's special master request to review "personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege."

The executive privilege review component is a doozy, expect more from DOJ on this.
8:51 AM · Sep 5, 2022

DOJ need to indict him and get this case away from this idiot.


ORDER

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.64.0_2.pdf

[Brainfodder]

1. They have already long been through those boxes, and TFG thanks for looking so guilty!

[Nevilledog]

3. Reading it now.... It's the executive privilege stuff I'm worried about

[TheBeam19]

28. DOJ can't use the docs for "criminal investigative purposes"

while the review is ongoing, per the Judge’s orders.

This sucks.

Edit (source)

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?s=20&t=VXEAMUmT2-5wzZ3WyZsVww

[kentuck]

29. So they cannot search for the "missing" documents?

The investigation is presently halted?

[TheBeam19]

30. This applies to the current batch

of documents.

Unsure about the missing (already sold or destroyed!) ones.

[Native]

2. Holy shit. She really is bought and paid for.

[jimfields33]

6. The executive privilege stuff needs sorted out once and for all

This may result in tightening the parameters of executive privilege which is needed.

[Native]

24. It's already sorted out.

Heard an interview with a former FBI/DOJ official who said the DOJ has their own special-master like team (I can't remember what he called it - an independent review team?, not sure). Anyway, he said it's used all the time, it's completely independent, and it's necessary because so much of what they investigate regularly includes privileged information. He said he can guarantee that that team has already gone through the documents and sorted those out.

[Celerity]

39. Filtering team?

[Native]

41. Sounds familiar.

[Native]

53. Yup. Filter Team. Mentioned in this Guardian article from 2 hours ago

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/05/donald-trump-special-master-fbi-mar-a-lago?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1662395287

[Nevilledog]

47. ...

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Harry Litman
@harrylitman
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The suggestion that it's an open question whether he has exec privilege rights is belied by the very Sup Ct case she cites,Trump v Thompson, in which court held that under the circumstances (Biden waives, criminal investigation), any claim must yield.
10:21 AM · Sep 5, 2022

[Historic NY]

11. finest Judge money can buy

[underpants]

15. This is ridiculous. Oh well Trump gets a stall but in the end

There’s no way he gets out of this. Even if not convicted everyone has seen the photo.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Damn her.

[jimfields33]

37. Oh my gosh. And she's only 41!

We’ll put up with her for another 35 years!

[EndlessWire]

50. We need to get rid of lifetime appointments for anybody. n/t

[jimfields33]

51. It's so hard to do

Of course if repugs get their plan to redo the constitution, they may get rid of lifetime appointments. I don’t think anybody likes them.

[kentuck]

5. Perhaps this will allow him to get it to the Supreme Court..?

And accomplish the delay he wants?

Perhaps the DoJ can put it on the back burner for a few weeks and complete the J6 investigation?

[fightforfreedom]

7. Who is the special master?

How long do they have to review.

Why don't we just declare Trump king and get this over with.

[sop]

8. Delay, confuse, litigate and then delay some more. That's always been Trump's MO.

We'll all be dead and in the ground before Trump is held accountable in a court of law.

[Historic NY]

9. I thought the executive privledge was already settled in the courts.

When the current holder of the Executive Branch got to decide on the National Archive records Jan 6th was seeking, Also the SCOTUS on the Nixon claims.

[sarcasmo]

10. Trump's above the law, World Tour continues.

[eShirl]

12. Judge orders barn door closed after all the horses.

[AngryOldDem]

13. What is it going to take to hold this monster accountable?

At the VERY least he was breaking the law by taking those documents out of the White House to begin with.

[kentuck]

14. Can the DOJ appeal the decision?

To a panel of judges?

[Nevilledog]

16. I think they can, and should.

[Nevilledog]

17. This ruling is junk

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Norman Ornstein
@NormOrnstein
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A reminder that Judge Cannon never should have taken this case. It was in the hands of the magistrate judge, she was picked by Trump’s lawyers solely because she was a Trumpist, in a jurisdiction nowhere near Mar-a-Lago. She has an effect engaged herself in obstruction of justice
9:04 AM · Sep 5, 2022

Trumpists truly are traitors to democracy.

[emulatorloo]

23. Yes. Trump doesn't have "executive privilege" for one thing.

I expect the judge is playing dumb, or else she’s worried about being killed by MAGA.

[Sogo]

25. Neal Katyal said recently, that if this was the ruling,

it would be within seconds that the DOJ appealed it.

[Frustratedlady]

18. So, what's the procedure if his Master (I'm surprised he'd even allow a "Master")...

Being "King" and all that s**t, that title has to bother Trump.

Anyway, say the Master separates out 100 pages. Considering the mistrust in the country today, who is going to check to see if they are truly attorney/client privilege or any other category Trump can come up with?

Personally, unless the Master is someone I absolutely trust and is beyond reproach, I will always mistrust what he/she pulled.

[allegorical oracle]

19. Problem is 60-day window starts Sept. 10...

[Claustrum]

31. If you thought you would see indictment before midterm, you probably set your expectation

too high. One of the main point that the DoJ argued against unsealing stuff related to this case is that an criminal investigation is on-going. It was never likely that the investigation would end before September (or November) so the chance of an indictment was low the whole time.

[Bayard]

20. Extreme bullshit

How hard is it to understand that TFG's executive privilege ended when his time in office did? And it doesn't MATTER anyway--he had classified documents laying around in open desk drawers.

[ancianita]

21. The DOJ should appeal this decision. Trump appointee and BS "abundance of due process."

[Mme. Defarge]

22. And now for some

projectile vomiting.

[orleans]

26. what a bunch of horse-shitting around; trump loves it, he rolls around in it nt

[Takket]

27. once again drumpf has bought himself time by throwing spaghetti at the wall

how long is this expected to take? as has been noted, while the FBI seized many boxes of materials, many of them were filled with "normal stuff" like magazines and newspapers. drumpf interspersed the classified things in those boxes with the "normal" stuff to try and conceal their presence so he could smuggle them out. (Which actually goes to his intent to commit a crime. One or two documents accidentally getting into a box could be argued as an accident, but dozens or hundreds is purposeful).

So the special master shouldn't need more than 2 seconds to look at a magazine and determine it isn't subject to any kind of privilege, nor is it illegal to have.

So that leaves us with only a limited number of materials to review. If there is a note from drumpf's lawyer in there, DOJ is going to know it isn't admissible as evidence, nor is it illegal to have. So it is going to take them two seconds to say "sure, he can have that back".

Estimates on classified materials: "31 confidential, 54 secret, 18 top secret, 90 empty folders"

The 90 empty folders are... empty folders. "What happened to the stuff in them" is another matter entirely but I would assume privilege doesn't apply to a folder.

That leaves 103 documents to actually review. How long could this actually take? Who decides what he can have and can't? What about Biden saying he does not extend privilege to drumpf?

[Mr. Ected]

32. So much for the vaunted criminal justice system upon which we all rely to mete out equal justice

It's disheartening to see it being used and manipulated to protect the wealthy, the conniving and the most dangerous man on the planet.

[spanone]

33. Robert Costa Tweet....

[crickets]

52. This completely ignores that the "stigma" is the crime itself, not the search. nt

[Hortensis]

34. Reuters: "A group of former federal prosecutors who all served in Republican

administrations also had filed an amicus brief in the case, saying Trump's request was "unprecedented," filed in a court with no jurisdiction, and "manifestly frivolous."

Many former Justice Department attorneys, both Democrats and Republicans, have criticized Trump's call for a special master.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr, whom Trump appointed, called a special master "a waste of time" in an interview on Fox News.

So, he got his delay. And, as Spanone's post indicates also, Judge Cannon got a spotlight on her reputation.

[Native]

35. Does this even hold if the court has no jurisdiction?

[FossFafy]

36. Trump appointed judge

of course.

[BSdetect]

38. We are in the Twilight Zone for sure

[Hermit-The-Prog]

40. Just finished reading it. Court is partly right but mostly blowing smoke to appease.

The executive privilege part of the ruling is bullshit based on handwaving about a Kavanaugh (Just-us Beer Bong Weenie Waver) one-liner.

Lots of noise to rationalize a temporary halt to the criminal investigation while appointing a special master to get Melania's panties back.

[Nevilledog]

42. Interested to hear what you think was "partly right"?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

43. Page 14 of the pdf, III. The Need for Further Review,

Although some of the seized items(e.g., articles of clothing) appear to be readily identifiable as personal property,theparties’ submissionssuggest the existence of genuine disputes as to (1)whether certain seized documents constitute personal or presidential records, and (2)whether certain seized personal effects have evidentiary value.

That's it. IANAL, but if it's (a) a personal item, and (b) not covered by the warrant, then a court should review it. That (b) would likely be the toughest one because the warrant specifically included seizing non-record items found in proximity to records.

[Nevilledog]

46. I am a lawyer.

She's wrong here because even personal property has an evidentiary purpose. The fact he had classified and government documents comingled with personal items is evidence of knowledge in possessing the documents.

Trump doesn't "own" any presidential records. He also doesn't own any government records.

The time for deciding the evidentiary value would be at trial and would be subject to determination by the criminal Court.



They warrant covered all the areas at Mar-a-Lago that were accessible to Trump.


From the warrant:

Property to be searched

The premises to be searched, 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480, is further
described as a resort, club, and residence located near the intersection of Southern Blvd and S Ocean Blvd. It is described as a mansion with approximately 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, on a 17-acre estate. The locations to be searched include the "45 Office," all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate. It does not include areas currently (i.e. , at the time of the search) being occupied, rented, or used by third parties (such as Mar-a-Largo Members) and not otherwise used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff, such as private guest suites.

This is not the time or motion to challenge the scope of the warrant, that too would be after indictment.

The fact that Trump "thinks" he owns these documents in not "a genuine dispute". It's the ravings of a lunatic.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

48. Thanks.

Here's Attachment B "Property to be seized":

All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items ill egally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 793, 2071, or 1519, including the following:

a. A ny physical documents with classification markings, along with any containers/boxes (including any other contents) in which such documents are located, as well as any other containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes;

b. Information, including communications in any form, regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material;

c. Any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021; or

d. Any evidence of the knowing alteration, destruction, or concealment of any government and/or Presidential Records, or of any documents with classification markings.

My memory failed me: I thought it allowed stuff in proximity but it was "including any other contents".

[Ms. Toad]

44. Her analysis on irreparable harm and the need for injunctive relief barely pass the laugh test. n/t

[Takket]

45. so.. how bad is this??????

The more I think about this... the more i wonder how bad it is.

First of all, assuming the "special master" does their job ethically, doesn't that HELP DOJ? Isn't this an extra layer of "due diligence" that drumpf can't use later as a defense in court? I totally agree that it is a complete waste of time, and buys him more delays, but when this actually does go to court he can't make any claims about privilege or "declassifying" anything because the special master will already have DONE all that, right?

Does this actually HELP drumpf in any way other than being a time suck?

[BannonsLiver]

49. A lot of people counting their chickens before they hatched around here lately

Shit like this is why I was not one of them. There’s always something with the TFG. And here we are.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

54. Here are Neal Katyal's comments on this horrible opinion

Link to tweet

This special master opinion is so bad it’s hard to know where to begin:
1. She says Biden hasn’t weighed in on whether docs protected by Exec Privilege. Nonsense. The archives letter (which DOJ submitted to the Judge) makes it clear current President thinks none of this ...
is privileged. Archivist says it is “not a close” question
2. Judge enjoins the entire investigation because some of the material might be subject to Executive Privilege. But Executive Priv isn’t some post-presidential privilege that allows Presidents to keep documents after ...
they leave office. At most, it simply means these are Executive documents that must be returned to the archives. It doesn’t in any way shape or form mean they can’t be used in a criminal prosecution about stolen docs...
3. She says the “reputational” harm to Trump justifies a special master. That’s insane–every crim deft has reputational harm. Are we now going to have special masters in every crim investigation?
4. She says the Special Master should screen materials for exec privilege, without ever once explaining what specific material is subject to exec priv, particularly when the incumbent President rejects the assertion. How is the Master supposed to figure that intricate Q out?
5. She says that because some tiny percentage of materials might be privileged, the entire investigation over all the materials has to stop. That’s a bazooka when one needs at most a scalpel.
6. She tries to enjoin the Exec Branch from using these materials in an investigation, but the govt has already reviewed all the materials. It makes no sense.
7. She says Trump suffers irreparable harm in interim, but the only harm she isolates is he won’t have the docs back during the investig. That’s not irreparable, he can get them back later &if they are improperly used to bring an indictment, he can move to dismiss the indictment
8. Her analysis of standing is terrible. Trump wouldn’t own these docs anyway, so why does he get a Master over them? If there is some marginal claim to some attorney client docs, that handful of material can be separately dealt with–you don’t enjoin the entire investig for that
9. Her jurisdictional analysis is similarly awful. She let Trump forum shop for a judge, instead of letting the magistrate judge evaluate these claims. The appearances here are tragic.

That’s just a few of many more problems. Frankly, any of my first year law students would have written a better opinion.
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