The special master overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation has ordered former President Donald Trump's lawyers to back up out-of-court assertions that the FBI may have planted evidence at the property during their search last month.
Judge Raymond Dearie, the court-appointed special master, said in a filing Thursday that Mr. Trump's team needs to submit a sworn declaration saying if they believe the Justice Department included any items on their "inventory" of materials taken from Mar-a-Lago that were not actually seized during the search.
The declaration must include "a list of any specific items set forth in the Detailed Property Inventory that Plaintiff asserts were not seized from the Premises on August 8, 2022," Judge Dearie wrote in the order.
This has come up as an issue in the case because Mr. Trump himself, some of his attorneys, and several of his outside Republican allies have publicly claimed that the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago during the Aug. 8 search.
However, they have offered no evidence to support these accusations.
Thursday's new order from Judge Dearie came two days after he held his first in-person hearing with Mr. Trump's lawyers and federal prosecutors, and it spells out his plan for how the special master review will move forward.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Trump suggested that the FBI planted evidence during the search. He asked Fox News' Sean Hannity, "Did they drop anything into those piles" of materials taken from Mar-a-Lago, "or...
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