The Department of Justice has responded to a request by lawyers for former President Donald Trump to have a special master review materials that were seized from his Florida Mar-a-Lago home by federal agents in early August.
In a court filing (pdf) on Aug. 30, the DOJ urged a judge to reject the request, arguing that Trump lacks the legal standing to ask for a special master, and that “even if his claims were properly raised, Plaintiff would not be entitled to the relief he seeks.”
“As an initial matter, the former President lacks standing to seek judicial relief or oversight as to Presidential records because those records do not belong to him,” the DOJ wrote, citing the Presidential Records Act, which they said, “makes it clear that ‘the United States’ has ‘complete ownership, possession, and control’ of them.”…