The odds that former President Donald Trump might soon face criminal charges stemming from the FBI’s early August search of his Mar-a-Lago estate increased dramatically this week, with a late night court filing from the Justice Department chock-full of incriminating evidence and, in a particularly striking attachment, photographic proof of just how egregious Trump’s conduct truly was.
The filing, submitted Tuesday night, was prompted by the former president’s demand that all items taken from his home be reviewed by a “special master” tasked with determining which documents were protected under attorney-client privilege. In response, the Justice Department explained to the court that “the government’s filter team has already completed its work of segregating any seized materials that are potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, and the government’s investigative team has already reviewed all of the remaining materials, including any that are potentially subject to claims of executive privilege.” What’s more, by requesting the special master in the first place, Trump himself opened the door to Tuesday’s filing, which afforded the DOJ new opportunity to showcase its increasingly strong cache of evidence against the former president beyond what had already been made public in the (heavily redacted) warrant and FBI affidavit behind the search.
