Trump wants a neutral overview of documents seized by FBI

Lawyers for former US president Donald Trump have asked a federal judge to prevent the FBI from continuing to review documents recovered from his Florida estate earlier this month until a neutral special master can be appointed to inspect the records.

The request was included in a court filing, two weeks since the search, that takes broad aim at the FBI investigation into the discovery of classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s advisers describe the raid, in which the FBI said it recovered 11 sets of classified documents, as a “shockingly aggressive move” and insist that he had been “fully co-operative” for weeks as federal agents scrutinised the presence of presidential records at Mar-a-Lago.

It also attacks the warrant as overly broad and asserts that the Justice Department should not be afforded “trust us” deference in conducting the investigation.

Donald Trump often used his Mar-a-Lago resort as a de facto seat of power during his presidency. Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

“Law enforcement is a shield that protects America. It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes,” the lawyers wrote.

“Therefore, we seek judicial assistance in the aftermath of an unprecedented and unnecessary raid” at Mar-a-Lago, they said.

In a separate statement, Trump said “ALL documents have been declassified” and described the records as having been “illegally seized” from his home.

The Justice Department countered in a terse three-sentence statement that the search had been authorised by a federal judge after the FBI showed there was probable cause to believe a crime had been committed.

It said it would respond in court to the motion.

The filing specifically requests the appointment of a special master not connected to the case who would be tasked with inspecting the records recovered from Mar-a-Lago and setting aside those that are covered by executive privilege – a principle that permits presidents to withhold certain communications from public disclosure.

In some other high-profile cases – including investigations involving Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen, two of Trump’s personal lawyers – that role has been filled by a retired judge.

“This matter has captured the attention of the American public. Merely ‘adequate’ safeguards are not acceptable when the matter at hand involves not only the constitutional rights of President Trump, but also the presumption of executive privilege,” the lawyers wrote.

The lawsuit argues that the records, by virtue of having been created during Trump’s White House tenure, are “presumptively privileged”.

But the Supreme Court has never determined whether a former president can assert executive privilege over documents, writing in January that the issue is unprecedented and raises “serious and substantial concerns”.

The lawsuit seeks to paint Trump as compliant with investigators, saying: “Whatever you need, just let us know.”

But the chronology of events suggests that search took place only after other options to recover classified documents from the home had been incomplete or unsuccessful.

The new lawsuit filed on Monday was assigned to US District Judge Aileen M Cannon, who was nominated by Mr Trump in 2020.

The investigation was sparked by the National Archives, which had retrieved 15 boxes of documents and other items from the estate that should have been turned over when Trump left the White House

An initial review of that material concluded that he had brought presidential records and other documents that were marked classified to Mar-a-Lago.