U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon never should have interfered with the FBI's investigation of government records that former President Donald Trump retained after leaving office, a federal appeals court ruled last week. The decision, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued late Thursday, allows the Justice Department to resume its examination of some 13,000 documents that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago in August. Special Counsel Jack Smith is considering whether Trump or his underlings committed federal crimes by keeping the records at his Palm Beach resort. Cannon threw a wrench into that investigation on September 5, when she agreed with Trump that a special master should first review the records to see whether any qualified as personal property, attorney-client communications, or material covered by executive privilege. The 11th Circuit blocked part of that order a few weeks later, restoring the FBI's access to more than 100 records that were marked as classified. The court noted that Trump "has not identified any reason that he is entitled to them." Last week's ruling vacated Cannon's decision in its entirety and instructed her to dismiss Trump's lawsuit.
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