Former US President Donald Trump is doing everything he can to stifle the investigation into classified documents found on him. Now the Republican has turned to the country’s Supreme Court. Trump’s lawyers filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn the lower court’s decision. Everything revolves around the following question: who has access to the approximately 100 secret documents seized?
In early August, the FBI of the federal police searched Trump’s villa in the US state of Florida. The FBI seized several classified documents, some with the highest level of secrecy. By law, this material should have been given to the National Archives. Among the thousands of documents, about 100 had been marked as secret, according to the FBI.
Neutral examiner examines documents
At the end of September, the US Department of Justice achieved a significant success in court. The Court of Appeal ruled that investigators may continue to use part of the seized documents for their work. It overturned the decision of a Florida court. This initially prohibited investigators from using the marked-secret documents as long as the Trump team’s desired neutral investigator Raymond Dearie is handling the documents.
Trump wants to release documents
Since this is an urgent request, the Supreme Court must decide shortly how to proceed. This could happen in the coming days. Trump had repeatedly described the investigation as politically motivated and denied any responsibility. He repeatedly defended himself by releasing the classified information.
In a recent interview, he even claimed that a US president could release classified documents simply by saying so — or just thinking about it. In fact, there is a formal document release process, with several very official steps. The release should also have happened during Trump’s tenure — and not after.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
