A federal judge has granted a request by former US president Donald Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to review documents seized by the FBI during a search of his Florida home last month.
The decision by US District Judge Aileen Cannon came despite the objections of the Justice Department, which said an outside legal expert was not necessary in part because officials had already completed their review of potentially privileged documents.
The judge had previously signalled her inclination to approve a special master, asking a department lawyer during arguments this month, “What is the harm?”
The appointment may slow the pace of the department’s investigation into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago, but it is unlikely to affect any investigative decisions or the ultimate outcome of the probe.
