Appeals Court Overrules Mar-a-Lago Special-Master Order, Dismisses Trump’s Case Challenging Government’s Access to Seized Documents

As we expected (see, e.g., here, here and here), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon’s grant of a special master to review privilege issues in connection with thousands of documents the FBI seized from former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.

The handwriting for this result was on the wall weeks ago, when the circuit, first, voided Judge Cannon’s injunction that forbade the Justice Department from using the seized classified documents in its continuing criminal investigation; and, subsequently, fast-tracked its consideration of the Justice Department’s full appeal of Cannon’s ruling.

The unanimous three-judge appellate panel held that Cannon did not have jurisdiction to grant Trump the relief of a special master. The effect of the ruling will be to abort the review process that has been under way for several weeks before Brooklyn senior federal judge Raymond Dearie, the special master whom Cannon appointed on Trump’s suggestion. (The Justice Department agreed that Dearie would be a fine special master but maintained that no special master should have been appointed.)

The former president could appeal to the Supreme Court. The chance that the justices would agree to hear the appeal — at this early stage, when Trump has not been charged and the Justice Department has not yet attempted to use any of the Mar-a-Lago documents against him — is nil.