(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Former US President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to
intervene and annul a ruling that allowed the Justice Department
access to documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago that were marked as
classified, reports citing .
The former president's application is addressed to Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas, whose purview includes the 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals, which made the earlier ruling.
The former president's team filed the emergency request with the
Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing the special master, or
independent arbiter, appointed by the district judge to screen
documents for attorney-client or executive privilege should be
allowed to review records marked as classified.
Last month, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed to put a hold on the lower
court's order to keep records with classified markings off limits
to the Justice Department's investigation, pending the review by
the independent special master. The appeals court allowed the
Justice Department to resume using those documents in its
investigation and said that it did not have to turn them over to
the special master.
Trump's attorneys argued in Tuesday's filing that 'this
unwarranted stay should be vacated as it impairs substantially the
ongoing, time-sensitive work of the Special Master.'
Trump's attorneys are seeking relief through the Supreme Court's
'shadow docket,' meaning it would not go through the Court's
regular process of briefing, oral arguments and opinions. The Court
will issue a written order, which may or may not explain the
reasoning behind the decision or reveal how the justices voted,
though they may note their dissents.
While Trump was in the White House, his administration made 41
requests for emergency relief through the shadow docket, more times
than the Bush and Obama administrations, according to analysis by a
law professor at the University of Texas.
Trump last week said on Fox News that he had 'declassified
everything,' and presidents can do so just by 'thinking about
it.'
On Tuesday, in a statement separate from the filing, Trump
bashed the National Archives and Records Administration, the agency
responsible for storing and handling records of past
presidents.
'How can Americans trust a system like this? There is no
security at NARA. I want my documents back!' Trump wrote.
Trump pursued a legal battle after the FBI executed a search
warrant on his private residence at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8 and seized
approximately 100 documents that were marked as classified. The
former president filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on
Aug. 22, requesting a special master be appointed to review the
seized records.
On Sept. 5, a Trump-nominated federal judge in Florida approved
Trump's request to appoint a special master. Ten days later, Judge
Aileen Cannon, appointed U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie to
serve as the independent arbiter or special master. Cannon rejected
federal prosecutors' request to allow investigators to regain
access to the approximately 100 documents marked as classified. On
Sept. 21, the three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit allowed the
Justice Department to allow investigators to have access to the
documents again.
The Supreme Court began its new term Monday, after seating its
newest associate justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
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