Former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday requesting the appointment of a special master to review the items seized by the FBI during the raid of his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The suit, marking the first legal action Trump has taken over the raid, calls for the review of the seized materials to be stopped until the watchdog is appointed, and for the FBI to return all items not in the scope of the search warrant.
FBI agents seized photos, handwritten notes, and the former president’s passports — materials that were not in the search warrant — according to the filing issued by Trump’s attorneys in federal court in Florida.
The special master is appointed in cases “involving the seizure of privileged and/or potentially privileged materials, [and] is needed to preserve the sanctity of executive communications and other privileged materials,” the suit states.
The released search warrant shows that roughly 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note, the executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone, as well as information about French president Emmanuel Macron, were seized from the property.
Trump has also called for the “immediate release” of the “unreacted” affidavit.
“In the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Also, the Judge on this case should recuse!”
The suit claimed the raid went against the Fourth Amendment and that “the Government has refused to provide President Trump with any reason for the unprecedented, general search of his home. To date, the Government has failed to legitimize its historic decision to raid the home of a President who had been fully cooperative.”
A federal magistrate judge ruled on Monday against the Department of Justice’s order to keep the affidavit fully sealed, saying it can be unsealed with redactions from the government.
Judge Bruce Reinhart’s ruling comes after a host of media companies filed a motion requesting that the affidavit be unsealed, and he gave DOJ officials until August 25 to file their redactions.