Donald Trump is trying to withhold from the Justice Department two folders containing correspondence with the National Archives and signature sheets that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago, according to court documents in the special review of seized documents.
The former US president’s assertions of privilege over the folders, which appear to have direct relevance to the criminal investigation into whether or not he withheld national security information and obstructed justice, are significant, as they represent an effort to exclude the elements of the investigation and keep them under their control. In particular, Trump asserted privilege over the contents of a red folder marked “NARA letters and other copies” and a second manilla folder marked “NARA letters one top sheet + 3 signature sheets,” a review of the documents has indicated. judicial.
The former president also claimed privilege over 35 pages of documents titled “The President’s Calls” that bear the presidential seal in the upper left corner and contain handwritten names, numbers, notes on messages and four blank pages of miscellaneous notes.
Trump also did the same with an unsigned letter from 2017 about former special counsel Robert Mueller, pages of an email about voter fraud lawsuits in Fulton County, Georgia, and deliberations about pardoning a certain “MB.”
The documents that the former president is trying to hide from the criminal investigation by asserting some kind of privilege became clear after a Friday ruling from the special court.
In the three-page order, US District Court Judge Raymond Dearie, a special master appointee mandated to examine the seized materials for possible privilege issues, released the identification numbers of the documents.
And he ordered that the “filter team” must transfer the documents that Trump does not consider privileged to the “case team”, the one that carries out the criminal investigation, before October 10. Once the documents are transferred, the special master wrote, attorneys for Trump and the Justice Department should consult with and attempt to resolve any executive privilege disputes over the remaining records by Oct. 20, and then forward any outstanding issues to him for let him decide.
