Justice Department objects to neutral examiner in Trump case

The US Department of Justice wants to appeal against a judge's decision, according to which an "independent" expert should view the documents confiscated from ex-President Donald Trump. The ministry also announced on Thursday that it would overturn the judge's decision that barred the authorities from accessing confiscated top-secret documents for their investigation. The documents belonged to the executive and not the ex-president, the ministry argued.

Trump himself installed Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled in his favor, in 2020. Trump responded to the Justice Department's announcements by praising the "brave and brilliant judge." Instead of fighting crime and corruption, the FBI and the Justice Department would spend millions of dollars and a lot of time and energy on their complaint, he wrote on his online service Truth Social.

According to the US Department of Justice -- which is also the top law enforcement agency -- in the Aug. 8 raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home, 18 documents were classified as "top secret," 53 documents classified as "secret," and 31 documents classified as "confidential" were seized. Seven of the top secret documents, 17 of the secret documents and three of the confidential documents were in Trump's office.

Trump is suspected of violating an espionage law. It contains strict guidelines for the retention of national security documents. Recently there had been media reports that a top secret document on another country's nuclear weapons had also been found on Trump's premises. US Presidents are required to hand over all official documents, including emails and letters, to the National Archives upon leaving office.

The raid on Trump has led to fierce political controversy in the United States. Trump has repeatedly described the search of his villa as politically motivated. He accuses President Joe Biden's Democrats of using the judiciary to prevent him from running for president again in 2024.