A federal appeals panel overturned the order creating a third-party special master to
review 11,000 documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, clearing investigators to use the records in the criminal
investigation of former President Donald Trump.
"The law is clear," the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. "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."
The judges had told Trump’s lawyers during oral arguments that the traditional way to challenge what becomes part of an investigation through a government seizure is to challenge the evidence after charges have been filed, which they have not. Judges said challenging the seizure at this point would only be allowed in response to the callous disregard for constitutional rights, which Trump never alleged.