President Donald Trump’s legal team has filed a motion that seeks an independent review of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago by the federal government. On August 8, over thirty FBI agents carried out a search warrant; the team took away at least eight boxes of records. In the aftermath of the raid, the government has said that Trump had classified information. The Trump legal team has denied these claims.
President Trump has said that the documents had been declassified before he left office and has also claimed that some of the seized documents are covered by “privilege.”
As a result, President Trump’s legal team has requested a “master,” whose job is conduct a non-biased assessment of the documents and determine if the declassification status and privilege status is correct on those documents seized.
President Trump and his attorneys have said that the August 8 search on Mar-a-Lago, taking place less than three months prior to the 2022 midterm elections “involved political calculations aimed at diminishing the leading voice in the Republican Party, President Trump.”
President Trump while out on the political stump has had a great track record as far as his endorsements are concerned. According to Ballotpedia, Trump owns a 92 percent success rate behind his endorsed candidates. Only 17 of his endorsed candidates haven’t made it through their primary race. This would make a strong argument for the idea that Trump is the voice of the Republican Party, as he stated in the filing.
Should the motion filed Monday evening in the in Florida Southern District federal court, not only would the independent master be appointed, but further review of the documents seized on August 8 would be put on hold until the “special master” could be appointed. The motion also requires the Department of Justice to release a more detailed property receipt for the documents seized. Finally, the government would be required to return any property that was not “within the scope of the search warrant.”
Over the weekend, President Trump had posted on TRUTH Social that he would be taking legal action this week in regards to the raid on his home at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. One of the posts mentioned filing a motion that would contend President Trump’s Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. Trump described the August 8 raid as “unnecessary, unwarranted, and unAmerican,” saying the search was a “Break-in by dozens of FBI agents and others.”
Immediately after the search, President Donald Trump and members of his family claimed that the staff and legal team present on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago were told by the agents present that day to turn off security cameras while the agents carried out the search. Trump posted on the matter: “(The agents present) demanded that the security cameras be turned off, a request we rightfully denied. They prevented my attorneys from observing what was being taken in the raid, saying ‘absolutely not.'”
Trump’s statement also added that part of the motion filed on Monday would demand the Justice Department turn over a real inventory of the property taken and disclose whether the “property” is now located.
The motion filed by Trump’s attorneys mentions the president’s lingering influence in the party, and it even claims Trump is the frontrunner in both the 2024 presidential primaries and the general election, “should he decide to run.” The motion also notes the influence Trump’s endorsements have had on the 2022 midterm cycle.
Also mentioned in the motion is the “distress” the raid has had on Americans.
Whether voters like President Trump or not, the event seems to have caused an even further divide among Americans. Online, individuals are calling for civil unrest and governmental agencies are disclosing an increase in threats. As Americans, we should all strive to come together and vote our convictions rather than utilize violence against our political rivals. Many Americans are losing faith in our institutions, and transparency is necessary to engender some trust in our government.
