Explained: On what grounds is Donald Trump suing the US govt after FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home?

Quoting Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty and two sources, The Guardian reported, “the suit argues that the court should appoint a special master – usually a retired lawyer or judge – because the FBI potentially seized privileged materials in its search and the Department of Justice (DoJ) should not itself decide what it can use in its investigation”.

On August 8, the FBI searched Trump’s private club, also known as the “winter White House”, in Florida. The search came as the investigation into last year’s January 6 Capitol attack continues. The search was conducted to seek material and records that the US Justice Department believes were taken from the White House by Trump improperly when he left office.

As reported by The New York Times on Tuesday, the US government recovered over 300 documents, that were marked classified, from Trump after he left office.

What does Trump’s lawsuit against the US government say?

Trump’s legal team filed a suit with a 27-page document in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida to pass an order that “appoints a special master”, “enjoins further review of seized materials by the Government until a Special Master is appointed”, “requires the Government to provide a more detailed Receipt for Property” and “requires the Government to return any item seized that was not within the scope of the Search Warrant”.

The document states that along with privileged material the FBI also took away “photos, handwritten notes, and even President Trump’s passport”.

The suit adds that Trump has demanded “transparency” since the moment he found out about the FBI searching his house.

The suit asks the government to provide a detailed receipt of property taken from Trump’s house and also asks them to return anything that “was not within the scope of the search warrant”.

It states, “the Government has refused to provide President Trump with any reason for the unprecedented, general search of his home. To date, the Government has failed to legitimize its historic decision to raid the home of a President who had been fully cooperative.”

The suit accuses the US government of favouring media houses and providing “ever-changing and inaccurate” justifications for the raid.

The lawsuit lays a detailed account of how Trump has “voluntarily assisted and cooperated” with the authorities and yet how the FBI carried out an “unprecedented search” of Trump’s home.

Some of the arguments presented in the lawsuit include:

Breach of Fourth Amendment

The document stated that Trump’s right to the Fourth Amendment has been implicated.

The United States’ Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, And no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the Persons or things to be seized.”

The suit says the DOJ “simply wanted the camel’s nose under the tent so they could rummage for either politically helpful documents or support efforts to thwart President Trump from running again”.

It further adds, “The FBI and DOJ have demonstrated a willingness to treat President Trump differently than any other citizen.”

Appointment of a “Special Master”

Trump, through the lawsuit, has sought the appointment of a special master to review the documents seized from his home to “preserve the sanctity of executive communications and other privileged material”.

He also asked the court to issue an order to prohibit the government from reviewing any documents that have been seized until now.

“As a general matter, the likelihood that the Government seized privileged material suggests the need for a careful review process.”

The suit argues that a special DoJ team will not be protecting Trump, but a special master will carry out a fair and balanced investigation.

“Given the circumstances here, a taint team is insufficient…Merely “adequate” safeguards are not acceptable when the matter at hand involves not only the constitutional rights of President Trump, but also the preservation of executive privilege.”

Detailed receipt of seized property

The lawsuit states that the receipt of documents left by the agents has ambiguous items mentions with little to no details of what has been seized. It adds that many boxes are labelled “Secret, Top Secret or Confidential”.

The document calls the receipt “legally deficit” and asks the government to provide more details.

“This ‘Receipt’ does little to identify the materials that were seized from President Trump’s home. This level of detail does not meet the standard of ‘verification’ required,” it claims.