Former President Donald Trump is asking the US Supreme Court to intervene and overturn the rulings of lower courts and grant a so-called “special master” the ability to review classified documents as part of their oversight, according to a court document filed on Tuesday.
The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August and federal agents seized materials with labels indicating a top-secret classification. Trump has contended that no classified materials were improperly stored at the residence and condemned the raid as a weaponization of the US justice system for political purposes.
The circumstances presented by the case compelled the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to acknowledge the significant need for enhanced vigilance and issue an injunction order mandating the appointment of a special master to ensure fairness and transparency in the case.
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals later granted a request by the US government to issue a stay in the special master order, blocking some of the seemingly classified documents from review.
“This unwarranted stay should be vacated as it impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the Special Master. Moreover, any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a President’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice,” the filing said.
The Eleventh Circuit lacked jurisdiction to issue the stay or review the special master’s authority, according to the filing. The District Court did not err in authorizing the special master to review documents bearing classified markings, the filing also said.
The application to vacate the stay was sent to Clarence Thomas, the Circuit Justice for the Eleventh Circuit. Trump seeks only to vacate the portion of the stay limiting the scope of the special master’s review, the filing added.
