Just a scant few days in the wake of a Florida judge calling out federal agents about leaks coming from the FBI’s raid of former President Trump’s Florida mansion, more anonymous sources have spilled secrets that could be harmful to Trump.
The most recent leak from the August 8 raid of Mar-a-Lago makes the claim that the taken documents include various classified materials on a foreign government’s military defenses, along with information on top-secret U.S. operations. The Washington Post highlighted “officials familiar with the criminal investigation” via a Tuesday report.
As part of a Monday ruling that a new neutral third party, being labeled as “special master,” must look over the taken documents from the raid, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon highlighted that the fed seemed entirely unable to halt the media leaks that affect Trump on their own.
“For the same reasons — chiefly, the risk that the Government’s filter review process will not adequately safeguard Plaintiff’s privileged and personal materials in terms of exposure to either the Investigative Team or the media — Plaintiff has sufficiently established irreparable injury,” stated Cannon.
…These leaks seem to come when the Justice Department is facing opposing actions in court and sever to frame the public debate through selective releases of information. https://t.co/zgqewCAqsG
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) September 7, 2022
Appointed by Trump to the federal bench back in 2020, Cannon stated that this special master would be needed to make sure that “the integrity of an orderly process amidst swirling allegations of bias and media leaks.”
As part of a small footnote in her decision, Cannon stated that she had asked the DOJ about the reported leaks, which started promptly after the raid and included unsubstantiated claims that Trump possessed nuclear secrets and a picture of the taken documents scattered across the floor of Trump’s house.
“When asked about the dissemination to the media of information relative to the contents of the seized records, Government’s counsel stated that he had no knowledge of any leaks stemming from his team but candidly acknowledged the unfortunate existence of leaks to the press,” stated Cannon.
This new ruling from Cannon blocks the DOJ from making use of any of the documents taken from the raid for its ongoing investigations until after all of the material has been officially screened by the special master, who has not yet been named as of writing. Various legal experts who looked over the decision from Cannon have stated that it is clear that the judge is fed up with these ongoing leaks.
“The federal US District Court Judge highlights FBI/DOJ failures to be forthright with court, failures to protect rights of Trump, leaks and other shady acts,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton via social media. “If I were Biden gang, I’d look to drop this sham case ASAP.”
Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University Law School Professor, stated that the timing of this most recent leak is just a little bit suspect.
“Roughly a day after a federal judge orders the appointment of a special master, a new leak appears in the Post saying that the seized documents included material discussing our nuclear capabilities,” stated Turley. “These leaks seem to come when the Justice Department is facing opposing actions in court and sever to frame the public debate through selective releases of information.”
