WASHINGTON – The United States Supreme Court yesterday rejected a request by former US president Donald Trump that it intervene in the legal tussle over classified documents seized in the FBI raid of his Florida home.
Trump had urged the conservative-dominated court to stay a ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that restored the Justice Department’s access to the classified documents.
In a one-sentence order yesterday, the Supreme Court denied the appeal without comment.
The FBI, in the affidavit used to justify the August 8 raid on Trump’s home, said it is conducting a criminal investigation into “improper removal and storage of classified information” and “unlawful concealment of government records”.
The search warrant said the probe is also related to “willful retention of national defence information”, an offense that falls under the Espionage Act, and potential “obstruction of a federal investigation”.
A “special master” has been appointed by a district court judge in Florida to screen the seized files for materials potentially subject to attorney-client privilege.
A three-judge appellate panel ruled that while the special master, a senior New York judge, conducts his review, the government should be able to continue using documents marked as classified for its criminal investigation.
Trump, in his October 4 emergency request to the Supreme Court, appealed that unanimous ruling by the appellate panel – made up of two judges appointed by Trump and one by Barack Obama.
Trump nominated three of the justices on the nine-member Supreme Court but it has delivered him several defeats in high-profile cases, most notably by refusing to hear his claims alleging fraud in the November 2020 presidential election. – AFP, October 14, 2022
