It was a banner day for many of former President Trump as he continued his battle with the Justice Department over documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago property and Anthony Fauci announced that he would be leaving his government office until the end. Will retire. of the year
Trump on Monday turned to one of his favorite ways to go after the enemy: a lawsuit. The former president sued in an effort to prevent the FBI from investigating a batch of classified documents seized in a search two weeks ago. In addition, he is asking the court to appoint a “special master” to look into the evidence confiscated by investigators.
In a move similar to his feud with the January 6 committee, Trump is arguing that classified documents covered by executive privilege should not be among those that were taken.
“It is unfair to allow the prosecution team to review them without meaningful safeguards,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Lack of returning the confiscated items to the Movant, only a neutral review by a Special Master may protect the ‘great public interest’ in preserving the secrecy of the negotiations that may take place in the performance of his official duties of the President” ( The Hill)
The move is Trump’s first major legal maneuver since his residence in West Palm Beach, Fla., which was discovered on Aug. 8. It also comes as a federal magistrate judge whether to issue an affidavit that gave the Justice Department the green light for the search. Mar-a-Lago.
Judge Bruce Reinhart, who previously indicated he wanted to release the document in some form, said on Monday that amendments to the affidavit could make its public unveiling “meaningless.”
The Justice Department has until Thursday to propose reforms. Late last week prosecutors vehemently defended keeping the affidavit sealed to protect their ongoing investigation and sources (The Hill).
- POLITICO: Capitol Hill leader Trump wants to see Mar-a-Lago search document.
2. CNN: Department of Justice issues new summons to National Archives for more January 6 documents.
3. The Washington Post: Files copied from voting systems from 2020 shared with Trump supporters, election deniers.
4. POLITICO: Judge says FBI’s evidence for Mar-a-Lago search is “credible.”
5. NBC News: Poll: 57 percent of voters say the Trump investigation should continue.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has advised seven presidents, announced Monday that he would retire by the end of December (The Hill). He would turn 82 on Christmas Eve and spoke to The New York Times about the “next chapter” in a career rooted in his work at the National Institutes of Health, beginning in 1968, indicating that he would leave government but will continue to work.
As long as I am healthy, who I am, and I am energetic, who I am, and I am passionate, who I am, I want to do some things outside the purview of the federal government. In an interview with the Times, he said he wanted to use his experience and insights in public health and public service to “hopefully inspire a younger generation”.
President Biden hailed Fauci as a “dedicated public servant, and a steady hand with wisdom and insight” in a statement released Monday.
“Because of Dr. Fauci’s many contributions to public health, people have been saved here in the United States and around the world,” the president said.
However, many Republicans welcomed the news by indicating plans to haul the infectious disease specialist before a Capitol Hill panel next spring if the GOP takes the lower chamber again in November (The Hill).
The New York Times: The Shape of Four Decades of Fauci.
Finally, the trifecta of Trump villainy was fulfilled Monday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Republican Party has a “50-50” chance of winning the Senate back this fall.
“Flipping the Senate, what are the odds? It’s a 50-50 motion,” McConnell said during a luncheon in Georgetown, Ky. “We have a 50-50 Senate right now. We have a 50-50 nation. And I think the outcome is likely to be very, very close either way. But the stakes will be bigger, because if both the House and the Senate turn away So I think the president will be a liberal. He won’t have a choice” (CBS News).
As noted by Michael Schnell of The Hill, the remarks come after the former president repeated his attacks against Kentucky Republicans over the weekend. In particular, Trump took aim at McConnell’s criticisms of a batch of GOP candidates. Last week, the Senate GOP leader said at a separate luncheon in his home state that the House is more likely to overturn than the Senate and cited “candidate quality” as a reason.