Trump to Ask for 'Special Master' to Review Seized Docs

[applegrove]

Trump to Ask for ‘Special Master’ to Review Seized Docs

August 20, 2022 at 10:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

https://politicalwire.com/2022/08/20/trump-to-ask-for-special-master-to-review-seized-docs/

"SNIP.......

“Donald Trump is expected to seek the appointment of a special court official to determine whether materials that the FBI seized from his Florida resort can be used in a criminal investigation,” The Guardian reports.

“The motion would be the first formal legal action by the former president after federal agents last week confiscated about 30 boxes of highly-sensitive documents from his Mar-a-Lago resort in connection with an investigation into the unauthorized retention of government secrets.”

......SNIP"

[Ocelot II]

1. Ya worried, bro? Scared?

[dweller]

2. Smells like

Major Fail …

Appoint NARA, they should know what is what

✌🏻

[GP6971]

3. Good luck with that.

Probably will fall on deaf ears.

[onenote]

5. Why do you think that?

Special masters to review items seized pursuant to a search warrant aren't common but in a case such as this, where the government is trying to be extremely careful, it wouldn't be a surprise.

A couple of examples:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/us/politics/project-veritas-special-master.html
https://www.courthousenews.com/special-master-finishes-cohen-privilege-review/

[Arazi]

12. Guessing the FBI's been working on them 24/7 since they were seized

If they’re not done yet I’d be very shocked.

The TRO to stop the filter team going through them should have happened that same day. The request for a special master by the next morning latest.

The FBI’s had 12 days now.

And I’ll bet they’re VERY motivated since #Traitor has sicced his mob on them

[onenote]

19. The use of a filter team doesn't preclude the use of a special master.

As one court stated, federal courts have "taken a skeptical view of the Government's use of 'taint teams' as an appropriate method for determining whether seized or subpoenaed records are protected by the attorney-client privilege." United States v. SDI Future Health, Inc., 464 F. Supp. 2d, 1027, 1037 (D. Nev. 2006).
Another court stated that "[T]aint teams present inevitable, and reasonably foreseeable, risks to privilege" and that
the Government's taint team may "have a more restrictive view of privilege" than the defense. This is because the Government's conflicting interests in both preserving privilege and pursuing the investigation present inherent risks.

Courts have acknowledged that the appearance of fairness is as important as fairness itself and that
"It is a great leap of faith to expect that members of the general public would believe" that a wall separating members of the taint team from members of the prosecution "would be impenetrable." In re Search Warrant, 153 F.R.D. at 59.In re Grand Jury Subpoenas 04-124-03 & 04-124-05, 454 F.3d 511, 523 (6th Cir. 2006).

In other words, there is ample reason to think that the court might bend over backwards in a case such as this one.

[Arazi]

20. Oh no doubt any court will bend over backward to appoint a SM

But it’s way too late. The FBI’s already looked over everything. They’ve catalogued and photographed it.

They can bring in a SM but I guarantee you the filter team has already figured out what it needs in order to discard items it can’t use and ways to get the info elsewhere if necessary. The SM was supposed to filter that information before prosecutors got their hands on it.

Beyond that, I’m going to bet the classified stuff still has markings. The criming will be beyond obvious (iow, the attorney client bullshit special master request is a sideshow)

[EndlessWire]

21. Don't forget, they're also fingerprinting the docs. n/t

[GP6971]

17. Just from what I've read

on previous DU OPs / posts discussing the matter. I have no legal background so was going on the comments I read.

[MissMillie]

24. Well, this is what comes into my head.

Earlier this year NARA was there picking up stuff and they knew that TFG had more stuff. (Why they didn't pick up all of it is a mystery to me, unless when they were there they didn't actually see the boxes, but rather figured out later that there was still stuff missing.)

What the materials are doesn't really seem to matter when it comes to the crimes the DOJ is investigating. He had stuff he wasn't supposed to have. He was asked to return them. Then he got a subpoena to return them.

I keep hearing that there was some negotiation going on and I keep asking myself, "Why is there a negotiation?" The documents belong to the American people (according to law) and they're supposed to be in the possession of NARA. What is there to negotiate?

I've seen the "just comply" posts and I agree.

Of course in TFG's tiny little brain he thinks being ordered around by the government is a sign of weakness. He's not strong if someone is ordering him around.

Laws are for other people.

[onenote]

26. Not every piece of paper is a "presidential record" belonging to the American people

The need to review what was seized arises because not everything that was taken may fall within the definition of a "Presidential Record". Some may be "personal records"; others may have been created after he left office.

From the Presidential Records Act:

(2) The term "Presidential records" means documentary materials, or any reasonably segregable portion thereof, created or received by the President, the President’s immediate staff, or a unit or individual of the Executive Office of the President whose function is to advise or assist the President, in the course of conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President. Such term--

(A) includes any documentary materials relating to the political activities of the President or members of the President’s staff, but only if such activities relate to or have a direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President; but

(B) does not include any documentary materials that are (i) official records of an agency (as defined in section 552(e) of title 5, United States Code; (ii) personal records; (iii) stocks of publications and stationery; or (iv) extra copies of documents produced only for convenience of reference, when such copies are clearly so identified.

(3) The term "personal records" means all documentary materials, or any reasonably segregable portion thereof, of a purely private or nonpublic character which do not relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President. Such term includes--

(A) diaries, journals, or other personal notes serving as the functional equivalent of a diary or journal which are not prepared or utilized for, or circulated or communicated in the course of, transacting Government business;

(B) materials relating to private political associations, and having no relation to or direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President; and

(C) materials relating exclusively to the President’s own election to the office of the Presidency; and materials directly relating to the election of a particular individual or individuals to Federal, State, or local office, which have no relation to or direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President.

[MissMillie]

29. Doesn't the fact that there was a subpoena for the material

indicate that it was stuff he wasn't supposed to have?

[onenote]

30. The point of filter review, taint teams, special masters

is that what is seized during a search often includes matter not covered by the search warrant.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. Sure, I nominate Adam Schiff.

He'll be thorough and objective.

[global1]

6. He's A Former President And Now A Common Citizen....

how can he ask for a 'special master'?

[onenote]

31. It's a term of art for a neutral review of seized materials

For example, a "special master" was appointed to review material seized from Michael Cohen pursuant to a search warrant.

[msongs]

7. rudy is available, or the pillow guy nt

[cilla4progress]

8. Im sure he goes like

"master. Yeah, yeah, I like the sound of that."

[Turbineguy]

9. "Special Master"

is one of Putin's people

[tanyev]

10. Like when Stormy Daniels spanked him with a Forbes magazine?

[Volaris]

37. It was a Forbes with his own picture on the cover.

To me, it says he knows what a self-loathing, useless dirtbag cuck is. HE KNOWS.

[yonder]

11. I like the sound of a Special Prosecutor. TFG can call it what ever he likes.

[Thomas Hurt]

14. What for, they are already being reviewed by career employees of the DOJ/FBI.

The Pig just wants to have someone appointed so he can bitch when the SM isn't a trumpcultist.

Every thing he can whine about, he can scam the cultists with.

[onenote]

35. It's pretty clear most people commenting here aren't familiar with the Special Master process.

When it is used, How it is used.

This article about the appointment of a special master in the Project Veritas case might help shed some light.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/2461/judge-appoints-special-master-in-project-veritas-raids-case

[Thomas Hurt]

38. That is nice. As I understand it, the DOJ has already returned the Pig's passports...

they could very well return other documents. They want a SM just in case the DOJ is dirty? Okay....so who is to say that any SM appointed is not dirty. The Pig will immediately squeal about that.

They may well get a SM at some point, maybe not until the Pig is indicted and there is a criminal case filed against him. He may get it sooner. He may have to file a civil suit for return of some of the documents. The Pig will take every opportunity to get even the secret documents back. All the documents are his, he is entitled to them all, just because he said so.

He may get more materials returned.

No matter what else happens the Pig is going to use it as another reason to delay and bitch and fleece the cultists for more money.

[onenote]

39. If a special master is appointed, it will be before he is indicted, not afterwards.

Otherwise, the indictment itself might be tainted if it relied on privileged material.

In the Guiliani case, the federal prosecutors themselves asked for a Special Master to be appointed, presumably to insulate any indictment that might follow.

https://www.courthousenews.com/seized-giuliani-documents-now-under-special-review/

[ZonkerHarris]

15. Liz Cheney would be perfect

[C_U_L8R]

16. Yet another fundraising scam.

Don't magats ever tire of his bullshit? It's so blatant and boring.

[Nevilledog]

18. Doubt it will ever be filed.

FBI already has a filter team and it's been almost 2 weeks since the search.

[EndlessWire]

22. He's just thinking up ways

to discover evidence against him, and to get in front of the indictment.

[Irish_Dem]

23. Yes he is just doing what he always does, weaponing the judicial system to favor him.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. Maybe he'd like Sidney Powell as "Special" Master

[Mr. Ected]

27. Though it may prove prudent to avoid future claims of FBI bias in filtering the collected evidence

It would fall into Trump's hands as far as his MO and what happens next.

Being an individual, the Special Master would be the subject of right wing ire. They would destroy the character of such a person, demonize them, and condemn the entire investigation on the basis that the SM voted for a Democrat in 1992 or some such nonsense. The institution of the DOJ would be condensed to one person and once that one person was thoroughly demonized, public trust erodes in the process in general.

Too little, too late. Should have raised this weeks ago. It serves no purpose but to delay and to malign the DOJ. Fuck Trump.

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. Special Master sounds like the Masons .

Where do they get this stuff? Who even knows about this stuff?

[onenote]

33. Every trial lawyer and prosecutor knows about it.

It's not a secret. It's a procedure that any trial attorney -- civil or criminal -- knows about and occasionally makes use of.

https://www.courtappointedmasters.org/acam/assets/File/public/handbook/web_final_acam_benchbook_jan_2020.pdf

[dalton99a]

32. He'll nominate Eric

[bluestarone]

34. If motion is agreed to,

Who will select this special master? Is this a long process? (i'm sure this is one of the reasons TFG wants to do it) STALL STALL STALL!

[onenote]

36. The judge will.

Here's a description of a recent case in which a special master was appointed.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/2461/judge-appoints-special-master-in-project-veritas-raids-case


A special master also was appointed in the Michael Cohen case. The special master took around 3 months to review the four million files seized from Cohen. The quantity of material seized from Mar a Lago appears to be much smaller.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

40. Donald Trump has filed his "supplemental" motion for relief

It is a piece of crap

Link to tweet