The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is now clear to pursue its ongoing probe into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents.
A federal appeals court yesterday (Thursday) terminated the use of an independent external reviewer -- otherwise known as a "special master" -- who was appointed to examine thousands of documents that Donald Trump allegedly took illegally upon leaving the White House and stored at his palatial Florida estate Mar-a-Lago.
“The law is clear,” the appeals court wrote in its statement released Thursday.
“We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so. . . . To create a special exception here would defy our Nation’s foundational principle that our law applies ‘to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank.'”
Trump was originally granted a special master in September by Florida district judge Aileen M. Cannon over the protests of the DOJ that presidents are not protected by executive privilege after leaving office.
Graphic courtesy of Business Insider
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