Trump's lawyers oppose Justice Department's request for classified documents.
The defense opposed the request to examine classified documents seized by the FBI at Trump's Florida property.
Reuters Lawyers for former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday opposed a request from the Justice Department to continue examining the contents of classified documents seized by the FBI at his Florida property last month as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
In a document addressed to the court, their lawyers also asked District Judge Aileen Cannon to include the approximately 100 documents marked as confidential that were among the more than 11 records recovered in the August 8 search approved by the court in an upcoming review of the material by an independent arbitrator, called a special expert.
In another development, the Justice Department indicted a Texas woman whom prosecutors accused of making threatening phone calls against Cannon, including saying the judge was "marked for assassination." The incident marks the latest example of reported threats against several federal officials in recent months.
Trump is under investigation by the Department of Justice for withholding government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, including "top secret," at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach after leaving office in January 2021. The department is also examining possible obstruction of justice.
The special expert, who has not yet been named, could prevent the department from using certain documents. FBI agents recovered the records during a court-approved search on August 8.
Cannon previously blocked the department from immediately using the records seized in the investigation, a move that will delay the work of prosecutors and make it more difficult for them to determine if additional classified materials may be missing.
Trump's lawyers, in a filing submitted Monday, said the former president disputes the department's claim that the roughly 100 documents in question are in fact classified, and reminded Cannon that a president generally has broad powers to declassify records. They stopped short of suggesting that Trump had declassified the documents, a claim he made on social media but not in court documents.
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