Judge Orders Halting Of DoJ Review Of Trump's Mar-a-Lago Documents, Appointment Of Special Master

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon ordered Monday to stop the review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and also authorized the appointment of a special master.

What Happened: The court authorized the appointment of a special master to review the seized property, Cannon said in a 24-page order issued on Labor Day.

The court temporarily forbids the government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes until the special master’s review is completed or upon further court order, the ruling said. 

The court also sought both Trump and the Justice Department to confer and submit a joint filing that included a list of proposed special master candidates and a detailed proposed order of appointment, mentioning the special master’s duties and limitations.

See also: Why Appointing A 'Special Master' On Trump's Request To Review Mar-A-Lago Case Could Complicate Things

Any points of substantive disagreement should be identified in the joint filing, the court said. It also reserved ruling on Trump’s request for the return of the property, pending further review.

Incidentally, Cannon was appointed by Trump and she was confirmed a week after the former president lost in the 2020 election, Politico reported.

2 Legal Analysts React: Reacting to the development, Democrat Norm Eisen, a legal analyst, said the judge has ruled wrongly.

“Because this includes an injunction vs investigative use, DOJ can and should appeal,” he said on Twitter.

Andrew Weissmann, a former assistant U.S. Attorney and member of the team for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's Russian connections, said the U.S. District Court’s decision has put the DoJ in the "untenable position of appealing a plainly wrong decision and enduring the unknown delay."

Photo via Shutterstock.