Trump lawyers fold on one special master defense — probably to avoid making false statements: experts

Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday introduced new court filings in the battle over a special master in the courtroom of controversial Judge Aileen Cannon.

Prosecutors recommended retired Judge Barbara Jones and retired appeals court Judge Thomas Griffith while Trump's lawyers suggested former Judge Raymond Dearie and Paul Huck, Jr., who is listed as a former general counsel for Florida's governor.

"The two sides also clashed substantially over the duties of the special master. Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that the arbiter should look at all the documents seized in the search and filter out anything potentially subject to attorney-client or executive privilege," The New York Timesreported. "By contrast, the government argued that the master should look only at unclassified documents and should not adjudicate whether anything was subject to executive privilege."

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman tweeted, importantly, Trump doesn’t argue that he declassified material."

Litman was not the only legal expert to focus on the importance of the omission.

National security attorney Bradley Moss wrote, "With yet another court filing, it is increasingly clear there is no evidence of Trump's alleged 'standing declassification order,' and no evidence that these particular classified records were ever declassified."

Former Pentagon special counsel Ryan Goodman wrote, "Gosh, I wonder why President Trump's side did not claim he declassified MAL documents, and instead just said this milquetoast line. Easy bet: Because they do not want to be caught in a false statement to a court - subject to sanctions and 18 USC 1001."

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