CNN
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A federal judge has scheduled a hearing on Thursday to consider former President Donald Trump’s request for a “special guru” to oversee the FBI’s review of evidence seized at Mar-a-Lago.
In the process, the court notify the parties She has “preliminary intent” to appoint the special director, a third-party attorney who will filter privileged material seized in the search.
Ahead of the hearing, the administration will respond to Trump’s request in writing within a Tuesday deadline, according to the court’s schedule.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, nominated by Trump to the bench in 2020, has demanded a public response from the Justice Department and a separate filing of sealed records detailing items seized from searches And the notice lists the review status of the seized material, including the process of filtering out privileged information.
Trump’s response to the Justice Department’s response is due Wednesday.
The hearing will be held at the courthouse in West Palm Beach on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
Cannon said at the end of the order that it should not be construed as her final decision on the matter.
On Friday, Trump responded to Cannon’s request, detailing his request for the special master and pointing to some additional legal discussion of case law, which he said supported his request.
Cannon found several flaws in the application filed Monday, calling for more oversight.
Trump’s filing on Friday comes hours after the Justice Department released a redacted version of the affidavit it used to obtain the search warrant, which lays out new details about the FBI investigation as well as a previous release from Palm Beach. Highly Sensitive Nature of Confidential Materials Retrieved in Beach, Florida, Resort.
Trump claimed that the newly released redacted affidavit filed by the FBI in court to obtain a search warrant raises “more questions than answers.”
“The redacted affidavit underscores why the motion should be approved, as it provides little information that would allow Movant to understand why the raid happened, or what was taken from his home,” Trump wrote in the document.
This story has been updated with more information.
