By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday said it would appeal a federal judge’s decision to appoint an independent arbiter to review records seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home for their ongoing criminal investigation.
The department’s move came after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, on Monday ordered federal prosecutors to pause reviewing the more than 11,000 records they recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach while a special master is appointed to review the material.
Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at his home after leaving office in January 2021.
The Justice Department is also investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice after revealing in prior legal filings it has evidence that records may have been removed or concealed from the FBI when it sent agents to Trump’s home in June to try to recover all classified documents.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
