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| Photo Credit: AP. |
An appeals court Wednesday asked U.S. Department of Justice to resume its probe of seized Mar-Lago documents as part of its continuing investigation into possible violations of federal laws as its relates to the mishandling, removal and storage of classified documents.
A
three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in
favor of the Justice Department after it appealed an earlier ruling by a lower
court. The DOJ may consider bringing criminal charges against former President
Donald Trump for his role in the removal of “top secret” documents and other
classified records from the White House.
The appeals
court said Trump had not presented any evidence he had declassified the records
seized from his Palm Beach Florida home on August 8.
The Department
of Justice said its investigation had been halted following an order from U.S.
District Judge Aileen Cannon that temporarily prevented investigators from
continuing use of the documents in its probe, according to The Washington
Times. Three judges Britt Grant and Andrew Brasher – both nominated to the 11th
Circuit by Trump and Robin Rosenbaum – nominated by former President Barack
Obama agreed with the Justice Department, according to The Washington Times.
“It is
self-evident that the public has a strong interest in ensuring that the storage
of the classified records did not result in `exceptionally grave damage to the
national security,”’ the judges wrote, The Washington Times reported.
“Ascertaining that,” they added, “necessarily involves reviewing the documents,
determining who had access to them and when, and deciding which (if any)
sources or methods are compromised.”
The judges
noted that an injunction that delayed or prevented the criminal investigation
“from using classified materials risks imposing real and significant harm on
the United States and the public,” according to The Washington Times.
How many documents did the FBI seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago?
In August
FBI agents seized about 11,000 documents including about 100 with
classification markings during its search on the former president’s property
after less intrusive methods of recovering the documents failed. Mr. Trump said
he had declassified the documents without providing any evidence.