text: Former President Donald Trump has been given a new problem in his case with the Justice Department following the raid last month on his Mar-a-Lago home.
  Judge Raymond Dearie, selected as the special master in the investigation, has stated that Trump must provide evidence of documents being declassified or he will have to assume they are classified.
  https://t.co/EvLe6u7Yza
  — rng1 (@rng1) September 20, 2022
  The concern
  Trump’s lawyers argued that the move “requires that the Plaintiff disclose specific information regarding declassification to the Court and to the Government.”
  Trump’s lawyer Jim Trusty said on Tuesday, “We’re not in a position nor should we be in a position at this juncture to fully disclose a substantive defense.”
  TO RECAP: Trump demanded a special master and won. He asked for Raymond Dearie and won. Now his legal team is upset that Dearie is asking for evidence of what he claims to have declassified and is setting aggressive deadlines.https://t.co/RsOsYCoQBu
  — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 19, 2022
  The complications
  “Trump’s response in this matter will be the latest opportunity to assert or provide evidence that he did, in fact, make any attempt to declassify or declare as ‘personal’ any of the documents he stored at Mar-a-Lago,” Politico noted.
  “Prosecutors and commentators have repeatedly emphasized that despite Trump’s public pronouncements that he took these steps, he has yet to make a similar claim in court, and that even if he had it would have little bearing on potential criminal liability,” it added.
  Trump seeks to block DOJ’s latest bid to bypass special master on classified docs https://t.co/BWpnNSAHqN pic.twitter.com/F8jvGyO0kG
  — The Hill (@thehill) September 20, 2022
  The latest effort further complicates the case as Trump’s lawyers must now also provide proof of documents being declassified.
  This proof would like have to come from those in the Biden administration who may be unhelpful in providing information even if it is available.
  The problems continue to grow in the case, though Trump’s legal team continues to fight for ways to protect the former president’s privacy following the unprecedented raid.