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Documents found in Donald Trump's residence 'possibly covered by attorney-client privilege'

Documents found in Donald Trump's residence 'possibly covered by attorney-client privilege'

Donald Trump

The United States Justice Department said on Monday that a number of documents which were found in former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence potentially fall under attorney-client privilege.

In a court filing by the federal prosecutors, they said that the department has already completed the review of all the materials found by the FBI and will provide a more detailed list of the documents.

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The FBI conducted the raid on Trump’s residence in Florida after speaking to a number of witnesses and coming to the conclusion that the former president was in possession of documents pertaining to national security and also containing proof of “obstruction of justice”, according to an affidavit.

The affidavit further claimed that the FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from the residence and they found three classifications of materials – “Confidential”, “Top Secret” and “Secret”.

Since the raid, Trump has alleged that this was a targeted attack by the authorities ahead of the elections and his team ask for the documents to be examined by a court-appointed “special master”.

While US District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida did hint towards accepting the request, it looks unlikely as the Justice Department has already completed the preliminary examination.

The Justice Department is currently investigating Trump for keeping the documents even after the end of his tenure as President and if proven, it can be a potential violation of the Espionage Act.

The authorities were alerted of the situation when the US National Archives reported that Trump returned around 15 boxes of presidential records in January this year.

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