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Former President Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday that the Justice Department’s “unchecked investigators” can’t be trusted to conduct a fair investigation.
The jab at the federal prosecutors was part of Mr. Trump’s response to the DOJ’s argument against the request of an independent “special master” to review boxes of classified documents and other materials the FBI seized from Mr. Trump’s Florida.
“Left unchecked the DOJ will impugn, leak, and publicize selective aspects of their investigation with no recourse for [Mr. Trump] to somehow trust the self-restraint of currently unchecked investigators,” attorneys for Mr. Trump wrote in a court filing.
In the filing, Mr. Trump’s legal team asked a federal judge to appoint an outside expert to examine the documents taken from his residence in the Aug. 8 raid and return to him anything covered by attorney-client privilege.
An FBI review team has already looked over the documents and concluded a “limited” number of the materials are protected by privilege. However, Mr. Trump’s lawyers said someone must oversee the FBI team’s work because the Justice Department can’t be trusted.
“A fair-minded DOJ that truly embraced the highest ethical standards would, and should agree,” Mr. Trump’s lawyers wrote.
They urged the court to appoint a special master to double-check the privilege review, saying oversight is needed.
