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A federal judge granted former President Donald Trump's request for a "special master" to be appointed to review the items seized from his Mar-a-Lago home by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month, CNN reports.
The decision by District Judge Aileen Cannon will order a third-party attorney from outside the government to review the items taken from Trump's Florida home and resort, as well as halt the Justice Department from continuing to review the seized materials.
"As a function of Plaintiff's former position as President of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own," Cannon wrote in a statement obtained by CNN on Monday (September 5). "A future indictment, based to any degree on property that ought to be returned, would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude."
Federal prosecutors are reportedly expected to appeal the ruling, according to CNN.
The Justice Department has publicly stated that its own "filter team" completed a review of the Mar-a-Lago documents and discovered a small set of attorney-client privileged records.
Judge Cannon said the appointed special master will review "seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney-client and/or executive privilege," CNN reports.