Nov. 15 (UPI) — The Justice Department is accusing former President Donald Trump of a “shell game” over the alleged misclassification of dozens of White House documents he holds at his Mar-a-Lago estate as “personal” without providing proof.
“Plaintiff may not designate records qualifying as ‘Presidential Records’ under the Presidential Record Act … as his ‘personal’ records simply by saying so,” the department said, according to an unsealed court filing.
In the filing, unsealed Monday, prosecutors accused Trump of “gamesmanship” over claims the former president plans to use executive privilege over the documents if a court-appointed watchdog rejects his claims that they are “personal.”
“That is a shell game, and the Special Master should not indulge it,” counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt wrote.
The special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, was assigned to review the executive branch documents seized in August from Trump’s Florida residence. Dearie had asked both sides to suggest guidelines to determine which records should be turned over.
The 11th Circuit Count of Appeals is considering the fate of the special master and whether Dearie will be able to finish his work.
On Thursday, Trump’s lawyers filed a brief and supplemental appendix arguing that the original order appointing a special master “is not appealable” and that the court lacks jurisdiction.
In the Justice Department’s filing, prosecutors also argued that if the documents are personal, then there is no need to hide them from investigators.
“Indeed, personal records that are not presidential records or government property are seized every day for use in criminal investigations,” Bratt wrote.
Trump “appears to be claiming that he can unilaterally ‘deem’ otherwise Presidential records to be personal records by fiat,” Bratt wrote.
“Such a reading of the [Presidential Records Act] would nullify the statute’s entire purpose by allowing a President to designate all of his officials records as ‘personal’ records and then to remove them upon departure from the White House. … It would reduce the PRA’s detailed definitions of ‘Presidential records’ and ‘personal records’ to mere suggestions,” he wrote.
Trump’s lawyers claim the determination over whether records created during a president’s term are personal or not is up to the president.
“President Trump was still serving his term in office when the documents at issue were packed, transported and delivered to his residence in Palm Beach, Fla.,” Trump’s lawyer’s wrote in a brief.
“Thus, when he made a designation decision, he was President of the United States; his decision to retain certain records as personal is entitled to deference, and the records in question are thus presumptively personal.”
