BACKFIRE

DOJ Will Drop Rebuttal of Up to 40 Pages in Trump Classified Docs Court Battle

A judge on Monday ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, which seeks to provide more information surrounding Trump's request.

A judge has granted the Department of Justice a brief of up to 40 pages in rebuttal to former President Donald Trump’s request to use a “special master” to handle the classified materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence, along with returning “certain property” that Trump claims are his. The pages are expected to lay out the DOJ’s position and could even reveal more damning information surrounding the raid after Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, requested the extension “in order to adequately address the legal and factual issues raised.” U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Monday granted the request after Trump’s lawyers submitted a 21-page motion requesting the appointment of the special master. Trump’s legal team did not object to the DOJ’s request. Usually a motion is a standard minimum of 10 pages or maximum 20, while a reply is not allowed to exceed 10 pages. A hearing is scheduled Thursday at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida.