Trump’s legal team asked the high court to vacate part of a ruling by a federal appeals court on Sept. 21 that said the Justice Department can resume using classified documents taken from the former president's Florida estate in its criminal investigation.
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request Tuesday with the Supreme Court asking that the justices intervene in the case involving classified records that he kept at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
In its filing, Trump's legal team asked the high court to allow the special master to be allowed to review classified documents seized by federal agents from Trump's Florida estate.
In doing so, Trump's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to vacate part of the appeals court ruling issued on Sept. 21 by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the Justice Department could resume using classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago in its criminal investigation.
"The Eleventh Circuit lacked jurisdiction to review, much less stay, an interlocutory order of the District Court providing for the Special Master to review materials seized from President Trump’s home, including approximately 103 documents the Government contends bear classification markings," the filing said. "This application seeks to vacate only that portion of the Eleventh Circuit’s Stay Order limiting the scope of the Special Master’s review of the documents bearing classification markings."
Trump’s lawyers added that “any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.”
To get what he wants, Trump would need five justices to agree with him. Although the court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices he appointed, Trump has not fared well in other such emergency applications, including his attempt to prevent White House documents from being handed over to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his bid to avoid financial records being disclosed to prosecutors in New York.
Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.
Lawrence Hurley covers the Supreme Court for NBC News Digital.
