(RepublicanInformer.com)- The Department of Justice is reportedly hitting back, as evidenced in a strongly worded filing, after Donald Trump decided to file a lawsuit against the department after the FBI’s raid on his estate in Mar-a-Lago back in August.
Trump filed a lawsuit against the department, alleging that they had provided no reason to search his home and raised concern about his Fourth Amendment rights. He also requested a special master to oversee the case, which is someone who looks over the process in highly sensitive cases.
DOJ prosecutors filed a motion to the special master, the Trump-picked Judge Raymond Dearie, reminding Trump that the vendor who is hired to scan the documents must be paid. “The government expects Plaintiff to pay the vendor’s invoices promptly when rendered,” the motion read.
While Trump tried to split the cost with taxpayers, the judge ordered him to pay the full cost.
The government also sneered at the Trump team’s complaints, writing, “Plaintiff makes three objections to the Amended Case Management Plan. Although the three objections are different, all are without merit.” The government then shifted the burden of proof onto the Trump team, arguing that they brought the case.
“Plaintiff brought this civil, equitable proceeding. He bears the burden of proof. If he wants the Special Master to make recommendations as to whether he is entitled to the relief he seeks, Plaintiff will need to participate in the process by categorizing documents and providing sworn declarations as the Amended Case Management Plan contemplates,” they wrote.
The August 8 raid prompted the Trump team to file the lawsuit, claiming that the DOJ violated the former presidents Fourth Amendment rights when they did not provide probable cause to search his home. They also criticized Attorney General Merrick Garland for announcing that he himself authorized the request for the search warrant, again prompting concerns that the raid was politically motivated.
Trump’s team also claimed that “leaks to favored media outlets have provided ever-changing, and inaccurate, ‘justifications’ for the politicized conduct of the FBI and Department of Justice,” according to Newsweek.
The same FBI division that is handling the review of the materials confiscated during the raid was the same division that led the 2016-2017 Russia “collusion” investigation of Trump, which was codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane” under disgraced FBI Director Peter Strzok. The division is currently under investigation by Special Counsel John Durham.
One member of the Crossfire team, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten, has also been under investigation since 2019, when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz referred him to a disciplinary review after he played a role in vetting the “Steele Dossier,” which has since been rebuked for its falsified information. The dossier was used to justify the FBI wiretapping former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
