Trump’s lawyers have requested the court appoint a Special Master to review the documents that the FBI retrieved from Trump’s home. You know, documents like these:
Having been caught red-handed with highly classified, very sensitive documents in his possession, and having his lawyer lie to the DOJ, Trump did what he does best — try to drag it on with legal maneuvers.
On Monday, Sep 4, the judge will announce her decision on Trump’s request for a Special Master. I think we should all calm down — a Special Master doesn’t matter — with or without a Special Master, Trump is in deep shit. Consider:
1. Documents subject to attorney-client privilege have already been identified and separated out by the FBI’s review team.
2. Even if a SM is appointed, and if some documents are determined to be subject to executive privilege, it doesn’t mean Trump gets them back; they still belong to the National Archives.
3. Executive privilege is only a qualified privilege, as Nixon found out the hard way re: the Watergate tapes. If there is incriminating info in any of the documents indicating the commission of a crime it could be used against him (same re: the crime/fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege).
4. The main thing is this: The specific content of any allegedly privileged documents isn’t important; the important thing is that TFG unlawfully removed government documents from the WH, then refused to give them back, then lied about whether he still had any. This is the crime, so it doesn’t matter what the documents actually are. All of them belong to the National Archives and not to him.
So, whatever is eventually decided about a special master is a side show. The investigation will go on regardless, and the crimes of taking and refusing to return government documents (no matter what they are), obstructing an investigation by lying to the FBI about having returned all of them, and violating the Espionage Act by mishandling national security materials, can be charged no matter whether a special master is appointed and no matter what they decide about privileged materials.
Let the side show continue…