On Thursday (September 29), U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon set aside a request from the special master, reviewing the Mar-a-Lago files, that former President Donald Trump provide proof to substantiate his claims the FBI planted evidence.
In her Thursday ruling, Cannon also extended the deadline for the completion of the review from November 30 to December 16.
Her ruling came after Trump’s legal team sent a complaint about the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, regarding his “management plan,” which they claim “exceeds the grant of authority from the district court on this issue.”
Cannon agreed with Trump’s legal team, ruling that the former President’s attorneys would not need to affirm the accuracy of the FBI’s inventory of the material seized at Mar-a-Lago before they’re allowed to review the records.
She wrote, “There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff at this stage, prior to the review of any of the seized materials,” adding, “The Court’s Appointment Order did not contemplate that obligation.”
Further in her ruling, she extends the deadline for the review of the approximately 200,000 pages by just over two weeks.
This rescheduling enables other critical filings by Trump’s legal team to land after the midterms.
However, Cannon did agree to one request by Dearie, ruling that Trump and his legal team would have to specify what executive privileges he wanted to exert over the records.
The ruling would require Trump’s legal team to label every document they claim is covered by attorney-client or executive privilege, in addition to the presidential records he believes are his personal property.
