DOJ proposes system for special master review of Mar-a-Lago documents
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CNN
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The Justice Department has proposed a system for the special master to review the documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
In her ruling denying prosecutors’ request for a stay last week, Judge Aileen Cannon ordered that the special master review be finished by the end of November. The review includes approximately 11,000 documents.
In order for both the Trump team and prosecutors to evaluate evidence at the same time, prosecutors suggested in a filing on Monday that the documents be uploaded to a third-party online platform.
The Justice Department suggested that the third-party vendor “batch out” documents on a rolling basis as they are scanned to both prosecutors and Trump’s defense team. The lawyers should plan to sort through about 500 documents every business day, DOJ said.
As the review begins, prosecutors suggested that US District Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master, host “weekly reviews” with both parties to “resolve questions and ensure smooth operation of the review process.”
The department also said it would propose a protective order for Cannon’s approval, which makes leaking details from the seized collection punishable by contempt of court “or any other legally available sanction that the Court deems appropriate.”
In its filing, the DOJ noted that if the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals grants its request to block parts of Cannon’s order requiring a special master, Dearie would not be permitted to review the more than 100 documents marked classified.
“If the Eleventh Circuit does not stay the review of the documents with classification markings, the government will propose a way forward,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
A preliminary conference is scheduled before Dearie on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.
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