Former President Donald Trump filed a motion in federal court in Florida on Monday seeking the appointment of a special master to review materials seized by the Justice Department from his Mar-a-Lago estate in a raid earlier this month.
The motion from Trump seeks an injunction that would bar the government from any further review of the seized materials until the appointment of a special master, and also requests a “more detailed” receipt from the government of items that were seized.
The motion further requests an order from the judge to have the Justice Department return any item seized “that was not within the scope of the Search Warrant.”
In a statement released after the filing, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said, “The Aug. 8 search warrant at Mar-a-Lago was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause. The Department is aware of this evening’s motion. The United States will file its response in court.”
Sources have told ABC News the search of Trump’s Palm Beach home two weeks ago was connected to a probe into whether Trump improperly took classified documents and other records to Florida after leaving the White House.
In January, National Archives officials retrieved 15 boxes of records that had been improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump left the White House last year — then, two months ago, federal agents visited Mar-a-Lago to retrieve additional materials that they believed Trump had failed to turn over. Shortly after that visit, an attorney for Trump signed a statement saying that all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
But authorities believed Trump continued to possess classified documents, leading to the August 8 raid.