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Trump Scores Two Huge Victories in Fight for Special Master

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By The Federalist. The Biden administration cannot use the documents the FBI seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for criminal investigative purposes until a special master completes an independent review of the material, a federal judge held on Thursday.

That decision and the court’s selection of Trump’s preferred special master candidate, coupled with the fulsome review process adopted yesterday by presiding Judge Aileen Cannon, represent a huge victory for the former president. But Trump’s win shouldn’t be a loss for the Department of Justice—unless the Biden administration played fast and loose with the facts and seeks to hide the truth from the country to launch an October surprise.

During the August 8, 2022, Mar-a-Lago raid, the FBI seized more than 11,000 documents, as well as clothing and other items from the Trumps’ home. On September 5, 2022, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, granted the former president’s request for the appointment of a special master to review the seized property. That order left open several issues, however, including the identity of the special master and the process and timing for the review.

Pending the special master’s review of the seized material, Judge Cannon also entered an injunction prohibiting the government from using the documents “for criminal investigative purposes. Three days later, the DOJ filed a notice of appeal, announcing its intent to ask the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Cannon’s injunction.

The DOJ simultaneously filed a partial motion to stay with the trial court, asking Cannon to put on hold her ruling as to the documents marked classified. Specifically, the DOJ asked the court to hold that while its appeal proceeds, it need not provide documents marked as classified to the special master for review. The DOJ also asked the court to allow it to use the documents marked classified as part of its criminal investigation during the pendency of the appeal. (Read more from “Trump Scores Two Huge Victories in Fight for Special Master” HERE)

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Judge Blocks DOJ’s Unchecked Review of Records Seized in Mar-A-Lago Raid

By The Blaze. On September 15, federal district Judge Aileen Cannon denied two requests that the Department of Justice made last Thursday: First, that the DOJ be allowed to resume reviewing allegedly classified records seized by the FBI in its August 8 raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence; and second, that no neutral third party be brought on to vet these same documents.

Cannon wrote: “The court does not find it appropriate to accept the government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion.”

She took issue with the DOJ’s demand that she “adopt hastily without further review by a Special Master” their premises and called into question the department’s representation of the documents, saying “evenhanded procedure does not demand unquestioning trust in the determinations of the Department of Justice.”

In a Monday filing, Trump’s attorneys noted that the former president is endowed with the powers to declassify records, without expressly stating that Trump had done so. Trump has, however, explicitly indicated he declassified the documents. (Read more from “Judge Blocks DOJ’s Unchecked Review of Records Seized in Mar-A-Lago Raid” HERE)

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Forging Ahead: Trump Mar-a-Lago Saga Takes an Unexpected Turn

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A document filed on the docket in the court case related to last month’s FBI search at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate appears to have been submitted by a serial forger locked in a North Carolina federal prison complex, according to the Associated Press.

The document, which was filed on Monday and remains on the docket as of Friday afternoon, looked to be from the Treasury Department and said the agency had seized sensitive documents related to the Aug. 8 raid at Mar-a-Lago and included a warrant ordering CNN to “preserve leaked tax records.” However, a review of dozens of court records and interviews by the Associated Press suggests the document is entirely fake and may have originated from someone with a history of filing other phony court documents.

Marked as a “MOTION to Intervene by U.S. Department of the Treasury,” the document is riddled with spelling and syntax mistakes, stating, “The U.S. Department of Treasury through the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Marshals Service have arrested Seized Federal Securities containing sensitive documents which are subject to the Defendant Sealed Search Warrant by the F.B.I. arrest.”

A federal statute for collecting financial records in investigations was cited in the document and also included two supposed warrants, one to a towing company in Michigan and another claiming to be sent to CNN in Atlanta, according to a copy of the allegedly bogus filing obtained by the Washington Examiner. (Read more from “Forging Ahead: Trump Mar-a-Lago Saga Takes an Unexpected Turn” HERE)

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Judge Blocks DOJ Request on Docs, Appoints Trump Special Master Pick

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A federal judge denied the Department of Justice’s motion for a partial stay to allow the use of classified documents obtained during an FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and appointed a special master picked by the former president.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon selected Raymond Dearie to act as special master to review independently documents seized at Trump’s residence last month and look for privileged material, according to an order Thursday.

Dearie, a judge for the Eastern District of New York, was one of the Trump team’s picks for special master and the one the DOJ said it would approve of for the task, along with its own proposed candidates. Cannon gave Dearie a Nov. 30 deadline to complete the review. Dearie is known to be a former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge linked to warrants against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The order states the special master must “provide the Court with a scheduling plan setting forth the procedure and timeline—including the parties’ deadlines—for concluding the review and adjudicating any disputes” within 10 days. The order also states the Trump team “shall bear 100% of the professional fees and expenses of the Special Master and any professionals, support staff, and expert consultants engaged at the Special Master’s request.” (Read more from “Judge Blocks DOJ Request on Docs, Appoints Trump Special Master Pick” HERE)

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Federal Judge Unseals More Portions of Trump Search Warrant Affidavit

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A federal judge unsealed more portions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) affidavit that was used to obtain an FBI search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago last week, revealing that the former commander-in-chief turned over Human Intelligence Control Systems and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) materials.

What the documents entailed was not disclosed by the government, according to the newly released version of the affidavit, which was uploaded Tuesday. More portions of the court document were unsealed, although much of it remained redacted.

In the copy of the document released on Friday, an FBI agent whose name was withheld said they “observed markings reflecting the following compliments/dissemination controls: HCS (Human Intelligence Control Systems), FISA, ORCON (originator controlled), NOFORN (not for release to foreign nationals), and SI (special intelligence)” earlier this year.

The DOJ investigation was triggered by a referral from the National Archives and Records Administration, which asserted it found classified records when Trump transferred records to the agency in January.

“Several of the documents also contained what appears to be [Trump’s] handwritten notes,” the newly unredacted portion of the affidavit also said. (Read more from “Federal Judge Unseals More Portions of Trump Search Warrant Affidavit” HERE)

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What We Learned From the Newly Released, Less Redacted Trump Raid Affidavit

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The newly released, less redacted Trump Mar-a-Lago raid affidavit shed new light on the investigation into the former president — and why the FBI stormed his Florida home.

Crucial new details, including information on security footage obtained by the FBI from inside Mar-a-Lago, were hidden inside the 32-page affidavit, which was released on Tuesday.

One of the key pieces of information learned from the filing is that Trump previously handed over documents to the FBI in a way that made officials think even the former president’s team knew the records were classified.

On June 3, DOJ and FBI officials collected documents in a Redweld envelope, an accordion-style folder, wrapped in plastic tape in a way the bureau said suggested Trump’s team knew the documents had not been declassified. The envelope was found during a review of boxes located in a Mar-a-Lago storage room. 38 documents with classification markings, including five marked “confidential,” 16 marked “secret,” and 17 marked “top secret,” were found in the envelope.

“When producing the documents, neither FPOTUS COUNSEL 1 nor INDIVIDUAL 2 asserted that FPOTUS had declassified the documents,” the affidavit states. “The documents being in a Redweld envelope wrapped in tape appears to be consistent with an effort to handle the documents as if they were still classified.” (Read more from “What We Learned From the Newly Released, Less Redacted Trump Raid Affidavit” HERE)

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Biden’s DOJ Doesn’t Want to Disclose ‘Classified’ Mar-a-Lago Documents—Except Through Selective Leaks to Leftist Media

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Hiding behind the horror of 9/11, the Biden administration demands that a federal judge and the country trust its targeting of a top political opponent—all while leaking details of classified documents to a pliant press.

This development and six others flow from recent court filings in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to obtain a special master’s oversight of the FBI’s seizure of thousands of documents and personal effects from his Mar-a-Lago home. The government doesn’t want to allow an independent review of the documents it’s seized. Trump’s legal team does. . .

The argument and analysis presented in the government’s motion reveals another reality: The Biden administration intends to pursue a criminal case against Trump, likely before the 2022 midterms. After the first wave of shock over the raid of the former president’s home passed, the conversation quickly turned to the end goal. Would the government be content with retrieving the documents, or was the government intent on indicting Trump? . . .

In seeking to expedite its criminal investigation and in opposing the special master, the Biden administration relies heavily on its claims that the documents marked classified put the country at grave risk. But as Trump’s lawyers note in their briefing, material once classified does not always remain classified. This concerns not merely the documents Trump declassified, but that other documents, such as the former president’s travel itinerary, lose any top-secret nature with time.

The Biden administration clearly wants Americans to believe the documents Trump had at Mar-a-Lago represent serious threats to our national security, as evidenced not merely by the court filings but by the many leaks to the press. To protect that narrative, the DOJ remains adamant that the special master not have access to the documents it has segregated as marked classified. (Read more from “Biden’s DOJ Doesn’t Want to Disclose ‘Classified’ Mar-A-Lago Documents—Except Through Selective Leaks to Leftist Media” HERE)

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Woman Arrested for Threatening Judge in Trump Documents Case

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A Texas woman has been arrested for allegedly making threats against the federal judge who granted former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review documents FBI agents seized from Mar-a-Lago.

In a criminal complaint, the FBI accused Tiffani Shea Gish of Houston, Texas, with leaving several threatening voicemails for U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over Trump’s case against the Department of Justice. Gish is charged with making threats to influence a federal official and transmitting in interstate or foreign commerce communications containing threats to injure another person.

According to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Amy Avila, on Sept. 3, 2022, Judge Cannon turned over three voicemails she received containing threatening messages to Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal Michael Witkowski.

The messages were left on Cannon’s answering machine on Sept. 1 by an individual who identified herself as “Evelyn Salt” and claimed to be “in charge of nuclear for the United States government.” Excerpts from the voicemails state that Trump was “disqualified” and “marked for assassination” and accused Cannon of “helping him.”

“So, here’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to let you disarm f***ing live nukes off your coffee table … how about you sit on an electric chair a couple times over … you think you’ve got the magical ability to pop up from the dead … pretending that you’re on the team of justice,” a message left for Cannon said. (Read more from “Woman Arrested for Threatening Judge in Trump Documents Case” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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Justice Department OKs One of Trump’s Picks to Review Mar-a-Lago Docs

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The Justice Department is on board with one of Donald Trump’s picks to independently review documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago last month, according to a new legal filing submitted by the agency.

DOJ lawyers, in the Monday night filing, said along with the two ex-judges the feds recommended, they’d also be open to the appointment of Raymond Dearie, the former chief judge of the federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

The special master appointment would sift through records recovered from the former president’s Florida estate on Aug. 8. The feds and Trump’s lawyers have disagreed over the exact role of the independent third-party and which documents they should review.

Dearie, who is on senior active status, has signaled he “could perform the work expeditiously” if appointed by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Justice Department said.

The DOJ’s picks to review the trove of docs were retired Manhattan judge Barbara Jones or retired federal appeals court judge in DC Thomas Griffith, who was appointed by ex-President George W. Bush. (Read more from “Justice Department Oks One of Trump’s Picks to Review Mar-a-Lago Docs” HERE)

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‘Softer on Radical Islam Than…Republicans’: Tulsi Gabbard Condemns Democratic Party for Attacking MAGA Movement

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A former Democratic Representative joined Fox News host Jesse Watters in condemning her party for calling former President Donald Trump’s supporters “anti-American” Monday evening.

“NBC News suggested Trump voters are a bigger threat than al-Qaida on 9/11. How did the vice president of the United States respond? That she will defend against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Watters said. “That was a declaration of war. Make no mistake. The Democratic Party, the media and obviously the FBI have designated the Republican Party as a terrorist group and believe it’s their patriotic duty as Americans to extinguish the threat.”

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a former presidential candidate, denounced the rhetoric from her party, which has escalated since the Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate owned by Trump. Liberals celebrated the raid, while conservatives accused the Biden administration of an “abuse of power.”

“I, like some of my fellow service members, I enlisted because of those jihadist attacks on 9/11, to support and defend our constitution to protect our fellow Americans and to go after and kill those who attacked us on that day,” Gabbard said. “And it is despicable and outrageous to hear these people, to hear these people say the things that they are saying, comparing our fellow Americans to terrorists. Actually worse. They literally said they are worse than al-Qaeda terrorists.”

“This just shows how far they are willing to go,” Gabbard continued. “Pushing our country to the brink of civil war. Demonizing, targeting our fellow Americans as worse than al-Qaeda terrorists. All to hold on to their power. That’s all they care about.” (Read more from “‘Softer on Radical Islam Than…Republicans’: Tulsi Gabbard Condemns Democratic Party for Attacking MAGA Movement” HERE)

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Did Trump’s Legal Team Stick the ‘Dagger’ Into the Heart of the Biden DOJ’s Mar-a-Lago Case?

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Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers might be going for the legal jugular in the ongoing fight between the Biden Justice Department and the former president over classified information seized from his Mar-a-Lago home on Aug. 8. . .

The latest motion filed by Trump’s legal team seeks to further block the Justice Department from reviewing the documents. It also brought the heat in their 21-page filing that torched the legal justification for the FBI’s raid and the seizure of documents from the property (via The Guardian):

Lawyers for Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Monday to deny the justice department’s request to regain access to some documents the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort and restart the criminal investigation into his unauthorized retention of government documents.

The response from the Trump legal team reiterated that it wanted a so-called special master to review all of the seized materials, asking the judge to uphold her earlier order barring prosecutors from using the documents in a criminal investigation until the process was complete.

But in the 21-page filing, Trump’s lawyers interpreted the Presidential Records Act in sometimes unusual ways, and accused the justice department of criminalizing what they considered a dispute between Trump and the National Archives about how documents should be handled.

(Read more from “Did Trump’s Legal Team Stick the ‘Dagger’ Into the Heart of the Biden DOJ’s Mar-a-Lago Case?” HERE)

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