The US Supreme Court denied former US President Donald Trump’s bid to participate in the court battle over sensitive information taken in an FBI raid on his Florida residence on Thursday.
Trump had pleaded with the court’s conservative majority to overturn an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. That had again given the Justice Department access to the secret materials.
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal on Thursday in a one-sentence decision without more explanation.
The FBI claimed that it was conducting a criminal investigation into the “improper removal and storage of sensitive material” and the “unlawful concealment of government documents” in the affidavit that was used to support the search of Trump’s residence on August 8.
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According to the search warrant, the inquiry also included possible “obstruction of a federal investigation” and “willful retention of national security material.” All violating the Espionage Act.
A Florida District Court judge has designated a “special master” to search the seized documents for information that the attorney-client privilege could protect.
A three-judge appeal panel said that the government should be permitted to continue utilizing secret records for its criminal probe. At the same time, the special master, a senior New York judge, finishes his assessment.
Trump challenged the unanimous decision of the appellate court. Which was made up of two judges selected by Trump and one by Barack Obama. In an emergency plea to the Supreme Court on October 4.
The nine-member Supreme Court, of which Trump selected three of the justices, has handed him many setbacks in well-publicized cases. Most notably by declining to consider his accusations of fraud in the November 2020 presidential election.