Supreme Court Turns Away Trump Effort to Keep Government from Reviewing Documents Seized from Mar-a-Lago

An unsurprising development in the former President's latest legal doings.

Today the Supreme Court rejected former President Donald Trump's effort to reimpose a district court order blocking the Department of Justice from continuing its review of classified documents seized by federal agents at Mar-a-Lago. This is another (unsurprising) legal setback for the former President.

To recap, a federal district court had issued an order blocking the Justice Department from reviewing the seized documents. A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stayed this order, allowing the Justice Department's review to continue. As I explained in my prior post, the Eleventh Circuit's opinion was a thorough rebuke of Judge Cannon for issuing the disputed order.

On October 4, Trump's attorneys filed an application to vacate the Eleventh Circuit's stay with the Supreme Court. This application was submitted to the circuit justice for the Eleventh Circuit, Justice Thomas, who requested the Justice Department respond to the request by October 11. This was an early sign that the Court was skeptical of Trump's filing, as it demonstrated no sense of urgency.

Today, without comment or noted dissent, the Supreme Court denied Trump's application with a single sentence order: "The application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on September 21, 2022, presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied." There was no noted dissent.

The Supreme Court's action should not have been a surprise, as Trump's filing (like the initial trial ourt order it sought to restore) lacked legal merit. It is a shame that some folks at either extreme of the political spectrum who somehow thought this motion had a chance.

Comments

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

This is how judges express 'you are a pathetic and shameful loser, Judge Cannon.'

[nekit2010g]

Cannon is 10 times the judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was (may her memory NOT be a blessing).

[santamonica811]

No. Smoke Crack AFTER you post.

[Davedave]

I think self-professed Hitler worshippers tend to prefer meth.

[Ridgeway]

And with that, Davedave makes a post that is both amusing and not insane. Kudos!

[nekit2010g]

Of course it lacked legal merit. But conservatives, including those on the Supreme Court, should stop pretending we have a legitimate system. Conservative judges should start using the same results-oriented judging that the left does.

The law should be whatever is best for their team.

[Moderation4ever]

It could be what best for their team is to have the former President indicted and out of the way.

[Krychek_2]

I was thinking that. The best thing that could happen to the Republican Party would be for Trump to drop dead of a heart attack. For one thing they’d be rid of him. For another thing, think of all the conspiracy theories that would pop up. The GOP could send out a million fundraising letters claiming Hunter Biden had him murdered.

[Moderation4ever]

I don't wish him any trouble ill health or legal troubles. I would just like him to leave and go play golf. You know how they seal documents for 50 years. I like Trumps mouth sealed for 50 years.

[Davedave]

Trump fans would love that, but I'm afraid he's not going to be free to play golf, he's going to be in jail. Or executed, if he doesn't plead.

[ah....Clem]

Calm down, Beavis.

Nobody is going to be executed for any of this. Even if indicted, tried, and convicted the chance of incarceration for Trump is still quite remote. Trump's ability to defer, delay, appeal, appeal the appeal, and otherwise run out the clock is well documented. It will most likely be after Biden's second term is over before it gets to sentencing, assuming for the sake of the argument it ever gets that far.

[Davedave]

I've pointed out in other threads that this is not how it's going to work. Trump could obstruct and delay, but only at the cost of the plea bargain he has to make to avoid execution.

He isn't stupid enough to play games while facing certain conviction on capital charges. He'll be desperate to cut a deal, and that means not playing games.

I'd love it if he's mad enough to condemn himself to death, but it ain't gonna happen. He's going to plead guilty, and he's going to do it early.

[Krayt]

Something something lathering the rubes something.

[David Nieporent]

The GOP could send out a million fundraising letters claiming Hunter Biden had him murdered.

Look, everyone knows that Hillary Clinton is the murderer in the Democratic family. Her body count is in the several hundreds by now.

[ah....Clem]

"It could be what best for their team is to have the former President indicted and out of the way."

You're probably right about that. The justices are all playing a long game and Trump is a short-timer in the greater scheme of things so I don't think there's any mileage for the justices to reflexively rule in favor of Trump.

Whether that strategy is going to work out well for Judge Cannon remains to be seen, but I don't think her approach is going to pay dividends long term. While it may have been an audition for promotion to Circuit Judge, it will probably backfire.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

She will be known as a partisan dumbass for the rest of her life.

The first paragraphs of her obituaries will recount her Trumpery.

[SRG]

The astonishing thing is you very likely believe that only left-wing judges are result-orientated.

[nekit2010g]

They are. Conservatives follow the law as written. Liberals impose their policy preferences, the most important of which are killing unborn babies and ensuring that gay men have a right to raw dog other men, ejaculate inside, all while a Christian wedding photographer is forced to film. And then taxpayers are forced to pay for PrEP so that this can continue.

That's what liberalism is about.

[not guilty]

Conservatives follow the law as written??

Uh, have you read Judge Loose Cannon´s rulings? Textbook examples of result oriented jurisprudence.

[Tim B]

Us humans are a fallen people. Perhaps the Platonic Ideal of the Conservative and Liberal would behave as you describe, but the people we get in practice are pretty far from what they're supposed to be.

[Krayt]

In science, you address the arguments, not the arguer. It's bad form to do so.

In politics, you presume the rat is up to no good. Seductive patter is their stock in trade so they get power, so they get in the way, so their spouse can demonstrate latent investment savant abilities

[Sarcastr0]

I can tell you haven’t been too involved in scientific practice.

[Moderation4ever]

It should be remembered that all of this might have been avoided had the former President simply returned the documents when asked.

[SRG]

But "I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!"

[Bored Lawyer]

Locusts do like to eat paper, and almost anything else organic. So that's not a bad one.

As an aside, it appears that White House level documents are still kept on paper. How 20th Century. In many lawsuits I am involved in, it's all digital. Curious if the documents Trump took/kept were ever scanned and a copy kept somewhere.

[apedad]

The documents were created on a computer so there's a soft copy somewhere.

[Bored Lawyer]

Likely, but I would think that someone should make a PDF of the final. In my practice, I almost always go straight from the WORD doc to the PDF. Paper is rarely involved.

[Brett Bellmore]

I should hope he wasn't stupid enough to only have one copy, but my hopes for Trump are often futile.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

You left out the best part: "Take it easy".

(Remember that many of those reading this today have, for various reasons, no idea of this one's provenance.)

[Craig Johnston]

He was a genius.

[Bored Lawyer]

Trump is his own worst enemy. He lacks self-control and judgment. The documents he kept were likely of little importance. But he insists that rules don't apply to him. Eventually that catches up with you.

[gVOR08]

Of little importance. I think he wants this documents back because at some point people are going to ask him about those documents and he has no idea what they are. Just his.

[Davedave]

"The documents he kept were likely of little importance. "

Still trying the minimalisation merry-go-round? We know he had documents of importance.

[Moderation4ever]

I think BL is correct here. The documents were of little importance to the former President, he simply wanted to have them. It might come out that there was some rhyme or reason to the former President's action but based on the way he conducted his Presidency that seems unlikely. Chaos going in, chaos throughout and chaos leaving.

[Davedave]

No, we know by now that he tried to keep various kinds of dirt on world leaders, as well as other material with the potential for blackmail. He was clearly trying to keep stuff he thought he might be able to use in future.

[Spinach Chin]

Absurd. There's absolutely no evidence of that, and even so, he wouldn't need to keep physical copies of a document when he could just copy/digitize them.

[Davedave]

It's documented fact. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/31/trump-boasted-he-had-intelligence-on-macron-sex-life

There was a diplomatic incident when France found out about this one, for example. Trump has _already_ harmed US interests by failing to keep the documents secret.

[Krayt]

Maybe he views it as enjoying being a thorn in the side of Democrats. This is just tussling with them.

He spent 40 years building buildings in New York City, red tape corruption central. Getting old, why not go out on a flare, sticking a dsgger in their sides and twisting it around?

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

"why not go out on a flare, sticking a dsgger in their sides and twisting it around?"

Trump doesn't seem to be playing much offense these days, with no reason to expect that to change. He's consumed by attempts to defend himself, while his followers are consumed by QAnon delusions, MAGA grievance pathology, and superstitious nonsense.

[SRG]

Hahahahahahaha

If not a single right-wing justice was willing to hear the application, that tells you how shitty it must have been.

[John F. Carr]

I would bet the score was 9-0, but it could have been 5-4. Notice of dissent is not required in these cases.

[AmosArch]

B-bu-but people were swearing up and down up to the White House not more than a day or two ago that the Supreme Court was just a puppet of the Republican Party that did whatever they bid and anybody who said otherwise was delusional. How is this possible?

[Bored Lawyer]

To be fair, this was an easy one to dodge, it's at a very preliminary stage, and does not raise any important question of law. "I've been wronged by the appellate court" is not a winning argument at the Supreme Court.

[gVOR08]

Because Donald Trump is not the Republican Party. Koch, McConnell, Roberts, and many others would love to see Trump gone as long as someone else does it.

[Moderation4ever]

This maybe truer than anyone realizes.

[Brett Bellmore]

Why? This has been clear since some time in 2016. I think Trump himself may have been the last person to figure it out. They didn't really want him to win in the first place, they'd rather have sacrificed the election, but there was only so much they could do to sabotage him and keep it deniable.

[David Nieporent]

Heh. When I read gVOR08's comment, I was going to respond, "No, this is just Bellmorian-style conspiracy theorizing nonsense." And then I scrolled down a bit, and, lo and behold… Bellmore adopts it as his own.

Setting aside the lunacy of thinking that the GOP hasn't been wholly Trump's since at least November 2016, it's just the perfect example of how conspiracy thinking works. Every bit of counter evidence is just explained away as further evidence of the conspiracy.

[Brett Bellmore]

If the GOP had been wholly Trump's since Nov. 2016, it's pretty hard to explain the GOP Congress voting to deny Trump border enforcement money. He really wanted that wall, and it was popular with Republican voters.

And then there was the little matter of voting to adopt the 2016 platform unchanged, in order to deny him any opportunity to make changes to it.

No, they were basically about as hostile to him as they could get away with, given how popular he was with their own voting base.

[David Nieporent]

They didn't vote to deny Trump border enforcement money. They voted to massively increase border enforcement money.

And then there was the little matter of voting to adopt the 2016 platform unchanged, in order to deny him any opportunity to make changes to it.

Sure. Things in your head are what happened in real life.

[Krayt]

Everyone realizes it.

[AmosArch]

In other words the Supreme Court is a puppet until it isn't. You can't bang the drum on the theory as some clear simple unvarnished straightforward elementary truth as self-evident as gravity then blubber about nuance the next moment when someone points out the contradiction in you snickering about a supposed puppet court turning on its supposed master.

Thanks for confirming your side's posts are gaslighting horse manure.

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

Your comments are pure strawmanning, and you continue to have no clue what gaslighting actually is.

[Randal]

Shhh don't tell them! I don't know why but it cracks me up every time. You're gaslighting me! Oh my god. I love it.

[CJColucci]

Even the most pliable partisan hacks need something to work with.

[SoSoCoCoMoFo]

You'd think the Supreme Court's (and nearly all other courts') previous rejections of Trump's 2020 election fraud claims would have been a clue about the "loyalty" of judges granted lifetime appointments.

[Sarcastr0]

What people?
Amos, who said this? Was it a one in here? We’re they perhaps in your head?

[Joe_dallas]

Curious how the individuals were able to put so many documents from the WH into the storage boxes to get moved out.

Is the security so lax that an intern can put the classified docs into the storage boxes. Wasnt someone there to supervise and check the classified status before removing the docs?

Or were the classified doc precleared as no longer being classified prior to the packing process.

Seems a lot more unanswered questions

[Moderation4ever]

I think there is testimony that WH lawyers were telling the departing President that the paper had to be sent back, he was ignoring them. The interns were in the middle and likely did what the last person told them to do. You raise a valid point however and the person that should have been on top of this is Mark Meadows the chief of staff. He seems to have been AWOL on all this stuff.

[Joe_dallas]

I would have thought there would have been someone with the national archives , FBI or some other agency supervising what documents would be allowed out of the WH. Or possibly someone was actually supervising and the docs that were removed were not (or no longer classified).

I would think there would have been some form of standard operating procedure. granted this only happens once every 4 or 8 years.

Note that I am making no claim that classified docs were not removed,

[Davedave]

"I would think there would have been some form of standard operating procedure. granted this only happens once every 4 or 8 years."

Yes, there is. Trump decided to ignore it. There has never been a need for oversight before because there has never been a traitor occupying the office of President before.

[damikesc]

Our current President has a bit of a habit of making quid pro quos while in office.

[Sarcastr0]

Like what? Anything you have hard evidence or, or just taking right wing smoke blowing as facts?

[Moderation4ever]

Again, there are procedures and the WH lawyers were telling the President to give the papers back. The President is refusing. This is point where the Chief of Staff needs to step in and take action. Meadows failed to do this.

[David Nieporent]

I would have thought there would have been someone with the national archives , FBI or some other agency supervising what documents would be allowed out of the WH. Or possibly someone was actually supervising and the docs that were removed were not (or no longer classified).

Until noon on January 21, 2021, DJT was the ultimate authority on what was "allowed" out of the WH. (Of course, as of that moment, his authority vanished, and he had to then turn over all government records, especially but not limited to the classified ones.)

[Kleppe]

I don't understand the government's purported uneasiness with sharing classified documents with a federal judge -- especially one who previously served on the FISC, where 100% of the material they deal with is highly classified. It isn't like the Special Master in this case is someone they found on the street.

[Krychek_2]

Because the fewer people who see it, the less likely there will be a leak.

[Jason Cavanaugh]

For starters, Judge Drearie doesn't have a need to know what is written on those documents.

A secondary reason, which you would know if you'd read the briefs, is that Trump's team wanted access to those documents as well. Again, neither his lawyers nor Trump need those documents.

Just because someone has a particular security clearance does not give permission to look at whatever they want.

[Joe_dallas]

A secondary reason, which you would know if you’d read the briefs, is that Trump’s team wanted access to those documents as well. Again, neither his lawyers nor Trump need those documents."

So jason - How is the defense going to know what documents were removed and whether those docs were in fact classified?

Those - as I noted above - how was an intern able to pack the storage boxes with "classified " docs? Wasnt someone there to supervise to ensure that classified docs were not removed? national archives, FBI , Secret service, etc?

[Jason Cavanaugh]

1) There is no charge yet, and so there is no 'defense.'

2) Trump is welcome to provide any de-classification orders he supposedly gave, under oath and penalty of perjury. To date he has provided no evidence - competent or otherwise, that he gave any such orders for anything he stole.

3) When he is appropriately charged for his behavior, I'm sure he can have a list of document numbers. He has NO NEED WHATSOEVER for the content contained on the pages themselves.

4) Maybe you should ask his aides as to why they followed the orders of a President. Maybe you should educate yourself more on the facts of the case, instead of pretending like Trump has any legitimate defense for his behavior. Maybe you shouldn't pretend like the documents in question were only "classified" and instead pull your head out of your ass and realize that they are in fact, classified - sans quotation marks, because that's what the documents claim to be, and Trump has refused at EVERY opportunity to swear otherwise.

Have you considered why he tells his dipshit followers one thing in public, and yet refuses to swear to those same statements when legal jeopardy would attach to those lies?

You people are hopeless.

[Joe_dallas]

Jason Cavanaugh 50 mins ago

1) There is no charge yet, and so there is no ‘defense.’
You people are hopeless."

Just pointing that there are lots of unaswered questions and something is fishy on both sides.

[Sarcastr0]

Nothing is fishy, you are just ignorant and rather than being educated you would prefer to turn it into a cloud of mystery.

I don’t know the ins and outs either, but unlike you I don’t think that means I’ve found signs of a conspiracy.

[Jason Cavanaugh]

If you want to have your questions answered, maybe you should read the briefs and form your own opinion regarding the legal arguments put forth by the DOJ, and the nonsense put forth by Trump.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64911367/trump-v-united-states/

That link will cover everything relating to Judge Cannon’s incompetence. I’m sure if you’re actually interested in finding out what is ‘fishy,’ you’ll take the time to educate yourself on the issues.

I suspect though, that you’d rather just pretend that something unusual is going on, and that Trump is just being targeted for no reason.

Time will tell which of the two paths you actually choose.

[Randal]

Just because you don't know how anything works and have unanswered questions doesn't make anything "fishy." That's called "paranoia."

[not guilty]

In the event of an indictment involving documents seized pursuant to the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the documents taken therefrom will be discoverable upon the defendant´s request under Fed.R.Crim.P. 16(a)(1)(E)(iii). Until then, Trump doesn´t have need of documents bearing classification markings.

[David Nieporent]

CIPA establishes procedures for the disclosure and use of classified information in trials.

[not guilty]

¨I don’t understand the government’s purported uneasiness with sharing classified documents with a federal judge — especially one who previously served on the FISC, where 100% of the material they deal with is highly classified. It isn’t like the Special Master in this case is someone they found on the street.¨

The role of the special master here is to consider claims of privilege which may be asserted by Donald Trump. Despite having the burden of proof regarding any claim of privilege, Trump to this point has not submitted a scintilla of evidence to the court. He has accordingly failed to assert a colorable claim of privilege as to any seized documents.

Moreover, the district judge has modified the order appointing the special master to exclude the approximately 100 documents bearing classification markings from the definition of ¨seized material.¨ https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.104.0_5.pdf

[Randal]

Judge Dearie himself doesn't want to look at them. He knows he doesn't have a need to know their contents, along with the very real downsides of increasing the number of people who know them.

[not guilty]

Federal investigators have reportedly asked multiple witnesses if they knew whether Donald Trump had stashed any highly sensitive government documents at Trump Tower in Manhattan or at his private club in Bedminster, New Jersey. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-maralago-raid-fbi-tower-bedminster-1234607008/ If these interviews yield probable cause, we may see additional search warrants issued and executed upon Trump properties.

I doubt that Trump wants to be charged and tried by a jury in the Southern District of New York.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

What? That's Trump's home court, his homies! They know him better than anyone else, so . . . . OK, I see your point.

[Davedave]

"I doubt that Trump wants to be charged and tried by a jury" - this is true whatever the location. When charged, he'll plead - the alternative leaves the death sentence on the table, and obviously he's not just a traitor, but a pusillanimous traitor.

[Brett Bellmore]

You seem to have some rather bizarre notions about what charges could plausibly be brought.

Oh, well, you are a parody account, I suppose that goes with the territory.

[Davedave]

Fuck off, bellend. We all know Trump faces treason charges, what with the attempted coup.

[David Nieporent]

That's not treason, person-who-doesn't-understand-the-law.

[David Nieporent]

Also, what are the odds that Trump didn't engage in obstruction with respect to any such documents he stored at these other places, subsequent to the Mar-A-Lago raid?

[F.D. Wolf]

Good news, everybody! Supreme Court’s legitimate again!

[Krayt]

Dammit! I had to wade through all that crap to find the one good comment.