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Trump asks the Supreme Court to resolve Mar-a-Lago document dispute

By: Dustin Jones | NPR
Posted on: Wednesday, October 5, 2022

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — The legal battle over documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August continues with the former president requesting the Supreme Court intervene in the case.

Trump and his team are requesting the Supreme Court review the 11th Circuit of Appeals’ stay order issued in September, which allowed investigators to review the seized classified documents without supervision from a special master. They argue the 11th Circuit lacked jurisdiction to stay the special master’s review of the documents, according to court documents.

A three-judge panel issued the stay nearly two weeks ago, siding with the Justice Department and overruling Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to halt the investigation until the documents could be reviewed by a special master.

However, according to documents filed Tuesday, Trump’s team says the special master order was not immediately appealable.

“In sum, the Government has attempted to criminalize a document management dispute and now vehemently objects to a transparent process that provides much-needed oversight,” Trump’s team said in the request. “The Government’s attempt to shield the purportedly classified documents from the ambit of a Senior United States District Judge … illustrates precisely why the District Court found a special master was appropriate and necessary under the circumstances.”

Trump’s request comes at a time when Americans have begun to question the legitimacy of the high court, which came under intense criticism following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last spring.