Federal Judge Aileen Cannon's approval of former President Donald Trump's call for a special master to review documents seized in the Aug. 8 FBI raid at his home was a "good decision," and her 24-page ruling outlining her reasoning was effective, Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys, said on Newsmax on Tuesday.
"I'm impressed with her 24-page decision," Habba told Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "I think it was well thought out. It made a lot of sense."
In her ruling, Cannon, a Trump appointee, determined not only would there be a special master, but that the Department of Justice would not be able to review or use any of the documents that were seized, pending the review process, for criminal investigation purposes, reports The Federalist.
Habba said she wasn't surprised by Cannon's ruling, as she indicated in her first opinion that she was likely to grant the request.
"The questions that she asked the attorneys that are handling this during the hearing indicated that she couldn't understand why they were objecting to having a special master," said Habba, adding that Cannon also indicated that having the independent review "would give the country a lot of support and comfort in knowing that things were going to be done the correct way."
The next steps will involve the selection of the special master, and while Habba said she's not on the team working on that, she knows Trump's attorneys are doing a good job determining who they will recommend.
"The special master, in this case, has to have very stringent credentials, because these could be documents that were once classified," Habba said. "The DOJ, I understand, is doing the same thing and the judge will vet that and pick a special master, so that's going to be the immediate future."
In the long term, Habba said she expects a Rule 41 hearing, which would involve a motion from Trump's side to invalidate the search warrant "because it was overly broad and unconstitutional."
Habba also called it "disheartening" that the FBI would have also searched the rooms and belongings of Melania Trump and Barron Trump.
"Meanwhile, we have Hunter Biden, who has the 'laptop from hell,'" she said. "Nothing's happening there. I don't even see them raiding his home."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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