A US judge is expected to decide on Thursday whether to grant Donald Trump’s request to appoint an independent expert to review documents seized by the FBI during a search of his Florida home to determine whether some of them can remain confidential. AFP.

After this spectacular and unprecedented police operation against the former US head of state by the FBI on August 8 in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Donald Trump is raging against the “illegal and unconstitutional” act and repeating that it was targeted. for political reasons.

Trump, who has increasingly openly toyed with the idea of ​​a new candidacy in 2024, has asked the court to appoint an independent expert to analyze the seized documents and determine which ones can be returned or classified as “confidential” – and thus not used in the investigation against him

Federal Magistrate Eileen Cannon, a 2020 Trump appointee, is scheduled to hear his request Thursday at a hearing in Florida where the Republican’s lawyers and Justice Department officials are expected to cross swords.

The department opposed appointing an independent third party, saying it could block investigators’ access to documents “and would seriously harm government interests, including national security.”

According to a department document, the top-secret texts seized from the former president’s home were “likely to have been hidden” to prevent him from being investigated by federal police.

In January, the former president’s staff turned over 15 boxes of documents he took with him when he left the White House to the National Archives, which is responsible for recording presidential activities for history.

After inspecting these boxes, the FBI, convinced that Donald Trump was storing other classified documents in Florida in potentially improper conditions, decided to conduct searches, seizing thirty more boxes of documents.

“They took documents protected” by client-attorney confidentiality, Donald Trump said.

Investigators suspect the Republican of violating the US Espionage Act, which strictly regulates the possession of classified documents. Donald Trump assured that these documents are declassified.

He is also being investigated for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters.

It should be emphasized that he is not criminally liable in any case.