Trump's lawyers file reply in special master request, arguing classified information in presidential records was 'fully anticipated'

In a court filing responding to the Department of Justice's opposition to a special master, Trump's legal team argued that the discovery of classified information among presidential records was 'fully anticipated' and should not have been cause for alarm. The filing dismissed the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago as 'unprecedented, unnecessary, and legally unsupported,' and criticized the DOJ for including a photograph of classified documents in its own filing. Legal experts noted that the argument misrepresents the Presidential Records Act, which mandates that presidential records are government property and must be preserved securely, and that classified materials require specific secure handling protocols; the claim that finding such sensitive information in an unsecured location was 'fully anticipated' was legally baseless.

“But this 'discovery' was to be fully anticipated given the very nature of presidential records. Simply put, the notion that presidential records would contain sensitive information should have never been cause for alarm.” Quote verified against source