WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to lift a judge’s order that has put a temporary ban on the review of documents seized during the Mar-a-Lago search last month.
According to CNN, the Justice Department requested on Friday that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allow its investigators to review the classified materials and exclude those documents from the special master’s review.
The Justice Department told the appeals court that the judge’s hold was interfering with “efforts to protect the nation’s security,” and is getting in the way of its investigation into the top-secret information that was at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s Florida house, according to The Associated Press.
The Justice Department said that the hold has to be lifted immediately, so it can continue working on the investigation, according to the AP.
According to The New York Times, the Justice Department wants the hold to be lifted for around 100 classified documents.
>> Mar-a-Lago search: New York judge tapped as independent arbiter to review seized documents
On Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appointed veteran New York Judge Raymond Dearie for the special master role. In addition, Cannon declined to lift the injunction she issued last week that had barred the Justice Department from using any of the documents for investigative purposes until the special master has finished his review, the Times reported.
According to Reuters, the first hearing from Special Master Raymond Dearie over the documents obtained from Mar-a-Lago is expected to take place on Tuesday,
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