Even though the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the DOJ the green light to look at those 100 classified documents, it appears that Judge Cannon’s latest ruling giving Trump more time to delay review of the other nearly 11,000 government documents is also holding up DOJ’s investigation. And the DOJ is tired of Judge Cannon’s pro-Trump rulings and wants the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to step in. It’s a bit complicated, and I do not completely understand it all. But DOJ investigators need those unclassified documents in order to understand how Trump got his hands on the classified documents and their storage.
It appears that Trump made such a damn mess that DOJ wants to work backwards from the jumble, and they need the rest of the pieces of this government documents jigsaw puzzle Trump created to sort this all out.
In a 15-page filing asking a federal appeals court to speed its consideration of the issue, prosecutors complained the “special master” review prevents DOJ from accessing thousands of non-classified records recovered from the former president’s estate.
While those documents don’t present the same urgent national security concerns as the smaller volume of classified materials DOJ successfully fought to regain access to earlier this month, Justice Department officials said the continued blockade on non-classified materials had slowed investigators’ efforts to determine how some of the classified records were transferred to Mar-a-Lago and whether any of them were improperly accessed.
“The government is … unable to examine records that were commingled with materials bearing classification markings, including records that may shed light on, for example, how the materials bearing classification markings were transferred to Plaintiff’s residence, how they were stored, and who may have accessed them,” DOJ officials, including counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt, wrote in the filing with the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. “The records not marked as classified may also constitute evidence of potential [obstruction] and [concealment or removal of government records].”
If I recall correctly, it’s why Trump’s passports were ceased. The passports were in the same desk that some of the classified documents were in. The proximity of his passports with the stolen documents are evidence of Trump’s obstruction.
And yes, the DOJ is fed up with Cannon’s bullshit:
“Based on the district court’s orders thus far, the government is barred from accessing all of the materials except those with classification markings recovered in August pursuant to a lawful search warrant — and it may continue to be barred from doing so until mid-December or later,” the officials wrote as they asked the appeals court to weigh in promptly on the legal issues, including Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
“Absent such resolution by this Court, the special master proceedings could result in prolonged litigation, including through seriatim appeals to the district court from reports and recommendations and other rulings issued by the special master,” the prosecutors wrote.
Which is what Trump wants, and Judge Cannon has delivered on.