Trump team files to keep which docs he allegedly declassified from Special Master review

In a new court filing this week, the Trump legal team is attempting to avoid immediately disclosing which of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago were supposedly declassified by the former president.

Semi-retired Judge Raymond Dearie, the court-appointed Special Master who has been selected by Judge Aileen Cannon in the seized documents case between Trump and the US Department of Justice, issued an order on Friday for the Trump team to furnish him with details about the documents, including which ones Trump claims to have declassified prior to bringing them to Florida from the White House at the end of his presidency.

Trump’s attorneys wrote in a four-page letter to Judge Cannon on Monday night that they opposed the disclosure of which specific documents were declassified by Trump, citing their desire to keep the details private until – and if – they need to utilize the information as a defense later. The letter claims the information should be kept from the DOJ until then.

“Otherwise, the Special Master process will have forced the Plaintiff to fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment without such a requirement being evident in the District Court’s order,” they wrote.

Judge Cannon has set a deadline of November 30 for Dearie to complete his review of the seized documents. Last week, she declined a request from the Trump team to exclude the classified documents from the Special Master review. The deadline falls after the midterm elections.