A federal judge on Monday accepted former President Donald Trump’s request for an independent expert to review the documents, photographs and other items seized by the FBI in the registry of Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in Palm Beach (Florida), the last August 8. At the same time, Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump to the position she occupies in the federal court in South Florida, prohibits the Government from continuing to use these documents in its investigation until the independent expert has reviewed them. The main consequence is that the investigation is stopped by the judicial decision. The investigators can continue their investigations on other fronts, but not with the seized material. In any case, the Department of Justice tries not to take decisive steps or make relevant announcements in highly politically charged cases on the eve of elections and there are just over two months to go before the legislative elections, which will also contribute to the fact that there are not many news with the case in the coming weeks, predictably. In the 24-page decision published today by Judge Cannon, she indicates that “a special expert will be appointed to review the seized assets, manage the allegations of privilege [ejecutivo o abogado-cliente] and make recommendations in this regard and evaluate the claims for the return of the property.” The judge also “temporarily prohibits the government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes until the review of the special master is completed or a new one is issued. court order”. The Government may continue to review and use the documents for purposes of intelligence classification and national security assessments, but not for the investigation itself. The exact details and mechanics of the review process will be decided by Cannon after receiving proposals from the parties. about. For now, he has asked both Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department to present a list of potential candidates to act as an expert witness. Trump’s lawyers had requested that review, among other things, in case there were documents that could compromise the privilege of the lawyer-client relationship, that is, professional secrecy in relation to the relationship between said parties. The Department of Justice replied that it had created a filtering team different from the investigation team to identify these possible documents and that it had already separated 520 pages of documents potentially affected by that privilege, so it argued that another review was not necessary. Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.SubscribeCannon not only questions the filtering procedure used, but also states that even when they pass the test of the procedure, they are not always perceived as being as impartial as independent experts. “A commitment to the appearance of fairness is essential, now more than ever,” he states in his brief. The other privilege that Trump’s lawyers alleged is executive privilege, by which a president or members of the Government can oppose the delivery of certain information. Normally, it is used to deny the delivery of documents to the judiciary or the legislature and the State Department argued that it could not be invoked against the Government itself. The judge doubts, but, again, agrees with Trump’s lawyers. She says that it is not clear if in this case there will be the possibility of alleging that privilege, but that at least Trump has the possibility of alleging it and that an expert review the papers. “The investigation and treatment of a former president is of unique interest to the general public and the country is better served by an orderly process that promotes interest and the perception of justice,” adds the judge. The decision is a victory for Trump , which at least saves time. The Department of Justice took advantage of its response to the former president’s request to provide some additional details about the investigation that expose him and support a possible charge of obstruction of justice. He also published a very illustrative photograph of the type of papers that Trump kept, with many folders with confidential classifications. Trump’s lawyers complained in a brief to the judge that the photo had been published for no real reason only for “dramatic” effect.