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upreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has given the Biden administration until early next week to respond to a legal filing from former President Donald Trump asking that a special master assigned to the case be allowed to review dozens of documents seized in the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump filed an emergency request with the court on Tuesday, prompting Thomas to seek a response from the Biden administration’s Department of Justice.
As noted by Axios, Thomas was the justice responding because he is designated to oversee emergency appeals from the 11th Circuit.
Last month, Judge Aileen Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida appointed retired federal Judge Raymond Dearie as a special master to review documents seized in the Aug. 8 raid, banned the Justice Department from using those in any investigation until that review is completed, and said all documents seized — including those marked classified — should be reviewed by Trump’s attorneys.
The Justice Department appealed the parts of the order that covered a ban on using the documents and sharing what it says are 100 classified documents with Trump’s attorneys.
An order from a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave the DOJ a total victory, saying it could use documents seized in its raid on Mar-a-Lago as it investigates the former president.
The ruling also meant the Justice Department could keep Trump’s attorneys in the darkabout the contents of documents that are marked classified during a review of the seized documents by the special master.
Trump’s emergency appeal said the appellate court went beyond its jurisdiction in keeping documents from his lawyers.
“Indeed, all that was before the Eleventh Circuit was the Injunction Order, which contained only the District Court’s statement of prospective intent regarding the appointment of a special master, but specifically did not set forth the Special Master’s duties and scope of review,” the filing from his attorneys said.
