Former President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday morning saying that he would like privileged records seized by the FBI to be returned to him.
According to a report that came out on Saturday evening, some of the documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago were allegedly protected by attorney-client privilege.
Fox News reported, “the former president’s team was informed that boxes labeled A-14, A-26, A-43, A-13, A-33, and a set of documents—all seen on the final page of the FBI’s property receipt —contained information covered by attorney-client privilege.”
In the post on Truth Social, the former president wrote that he had just learned about the claims.
“Oh great! It has just been learned that the FBI, in its now famous raid of Mar-a-Lago, took boxes of privileged ‘attorney-client’ material, and also ‘executive’ privileged material, which they knowingly should not have taken,” Trump wrote. “By copy of this TRUTH, I respectfully request that these documents be immediately returned to the location from which they were taken. Thank you!”
Andrew McCarthy, the former chief assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, said that if he really wants the documents back, he should request them through the court — but warned against doing so.
“I’d be a little leery to do that if I thought they were investigating me because if you take a position and then they charge you, you’re kind of locked into what you said,” McCarthy said. “So if he doesn’t absolutely need that material back, I think I’d lay low in the tall grass for a while and see what they do.”
The sources who spoke to Fox explained that the Justice Department also opposed Trump lawyers’ request for the appointment of an independent, special master to review the records.
“Sources told Fox News that some records could be covered by executive privilege, which gives the president of the United States and other officials within the executive branch the authority to withhold certain sensitive forms of advice and consultation between the president and senior advisors,” the Fox report says. “It is unclear, at this point, if the records include communications between the former president and his private attorneys, White House counsel during the Trump administration, or a combination.”
The search warrant and property receipt from the raid were unsealed on Friday by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart after Attorney General Merrick Garland requested that he do so.
According to the receipt, the feds took about 20 boxes of documents from Trump’s residence.
Many Republicans believe that the raid was part of a plot to prevent Trump from running in 2024, but it has only boosted his popularity in the party and support for his potential run.
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