Judge tosses Trump's lawsuit, ending special master review of Mar-a-Lago documents

WASHINGTON – A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit Monday that sought a special master review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, after an appeals court ruled the review was unnecessary.

• What it means: The ruling ends the document review, which was ordered after the FBI in August seized classified documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

• How it started: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had ordered the special master review to potentially remove from criminal investigation any of the 11,000 documents from the investigation that were personal or fell under executive or attorney-client privilege.

• DOJ said review wasn't needed and court agreed:  The Justice Department appealed, calling the review unwarranted. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 1 no review was needed because Trump had not shown callous disregard by the government for his constitutional rights during the search.

  • "The law is clear," ruled the panel of Chief Judge William Pryor and Judges Britt Grant and Andrew Brasher. "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."

• Trump did not appeal to Supreme Court: The appeals panel gave Trump a week to appeal to the Supreme Court by Thursday, but he didn't. Cannon formally dismissed the case Monday.

Today's politics news delivered to you: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

DOJ investigation of Trump moves forward

FBI agents seized the documents – including 100 classified records – as part of a criminal investigation into possible violations of the Espionage Act or obstruction of justice.

The special master, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, had expected to complete his review by Friday.

The appeals court panel said defendants can challenge the results of search warrants after charges are filed, but generally not before. Trump hasn't been charged.

The 11th Circuit's decision came less than two weeks after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his unauthorized transfer of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House.

Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before Congress:Former CEO of FTX crypto exchange, to testify before Congress Tuesday

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump Mar-a-Lago documents review ends after judge dismisses lawsuit