In a Thursday-issued ruling, a three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated Judge Aileen Cannon's baffling prior order blocking the federal government from using stolen government documents seized at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate while instead ordering a new "special master" to evaluate Trump's alleged ownership claims to those documents.
Cannon's order was widely derided by legal experts and quickly proved a fiasco in practice, but it still complicated the federal investigation into the thousands of pages of government documents, some highly classified, that Trump had illegally stored in unsecured Mar-a-Lago locations after he lost the presidency. The 11th Circuit ruling eviscerates Cannon's order, stating plainly that "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 order vacates Cannon's appointment of a special master, remanding the case to the lower court with orders to dismiss Trump's case in its entirety.
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Cannon's order was widely derided by legal experts and quickly proved a fiasco in practice, but it still complicated the federal investigation into the thousands of pages of government documents, some highly classified, that Trump had illegally stored in unsecured Mar-a-Lago locations after he lost the presidency. The 11th Circuit ruling eviscerates Cannon's order, stating plainly that "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 order vacates Cannon's appointment of a special master, remanding the case to the lower court with orders to dismiss Trump's case in its entirety.
RELATED STORIES:
Special master loses patience with Trump's nonsense objections: 'Where's the beef?'
Special Master Judge Dearie tells Trump's team to put up or shut up on claims of planted evidence
Judge Cannon hands Donald Trump an early Christmas gift by interfering with special master
11th Circuit hands Trump—and Cannon—a big defeat, authorizes DOJ to continue criminal investigation