The session in Judge Raymond Dearie’s courtroom could address key questions about the seized Mar-a-Lago documents, including whether any were declassified.
Lawyers for Donald Trump are scheduled to meet Tuesday with federal prosecutors and the special master appointed at the request of the former president to review documents seized from his Florida home.
In a remarkable admission on Monday, Trump’s lawyers acknowledged that the documents investigation could lead to an indictment, arguing that any attempt to make Trump explain now whether he declassified some of the seized documents would force the former president 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.”
By raising that concern, the lawyers acknowledged at least the possibility that the former president or his aides could be criminally charged in the case. Trump’s legal team has repeatedly suggested in court filings that the former president could have declassified the documents — but they have not actually asserted that he did so.
The newly appointed special master, federal judge Raymond J. Dearie, is weighing the mechanics of how to review about 11,000 documents, roughly 100 of which have classified markings, that were taken Aug. 8 when FBI agents executed a court-authorized search of Trump’s residence and private club.
