Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has officially dismissed the civil lawsuit filed by Donald Trump after the FBI raided his southern Florida resort Mar-a-Lago that led to the selection of a court-appointed third party known as a special master for reviewing items seized in the search.
Cannon did so after a decision directing that action from a three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also directed an end to the special master’s review. Cannon’s brief order adhering to the appeals panel’s directions notes she was dismissing on the basis of a lack of jurisdiction. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was recently selected to oversee two investigations at the Justice Department involving Trump, including the probe into the former president harboring classified documents long after he left office, has thereby scored another set of wins. Cannon also agreed prior to the end the 11th Circuit directed of the special master’s review taking effect to delay a series of deadlines in the special master’s work. The Justice Department pushed for that move, at least partly in the name of efficiency. Rules for civil procedure ordain that the measures be executed with an eye towards that end, as Smith’s filing noted.
Only the unclassified items taken in the August Trump raid remained subject to the special master’s review, but these materials could provide context clues regarding the handling of classified items found at Trump’s resort. Trump was evidently claiming many documents taken in the search were personal in nature, but the Justice Department argued against the notion that status provided any sort of legal foundation for special treatment of the former president. Aren’t personal records taken in government searches and seizures all the time?
The search was conducted after a federal subpoena directed that Trump return a broad array of classified documents he may have still had in his possession. Much more recently, a third party conducting searches of Trump-tied properties for any further classified documents found at least two more that were at a Florida storage unit used at least in large part for materials originating with a Virginia office originally used by the Trump team following his departure from the presidency. That storage unit is separate from the onsite storage area at Mar-a-Lago that has repeatedly figured into the government’s pushes for documents. New searches by third parties were also conducted at Trump Tower in New York City and Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, but reportedly, no additional classified documents were found. A federal push to hold Trump in contempt in connection to his lack of comprehensive compliance with the subpoena for classified documents was recently unsuccessful.
IT'S OFFICIAL: Judge Cannon has dismissed Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago lawsuit on instructions from the appeals court. pic.twitter.com/8rtgMu0GC0
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 12, 2022
