Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron comes to Trump's defense in Mar-a-Lago case
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Kentucky's Daniel Cameron joined 10 other GOP state attorneys general Tuesday in a joint amicus brief supporting former President Donald Trump's attempt to have a court-appointed special master go through the classified documents seized at his Florida residence in August.
A Trump-appointed federal judge two weeks ago granted Trump's request for a special master to review the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago and temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from using the records as part of any criminal investigation.
The Department of Justice has appealed the appointment and asked an appeals court to let the FBI maintain access to the most sensitive documents taken from Trump's residence.
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The amicus brief signed by Cameron and the 10 other attorneys general — led by Ken Paxton of Texas — argues the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals should reject the government's request for a stay of the judge's order pending appeal and "instead permit this document dispute to proceed before a neutral special master."
The brief goes on to question the tactics and motives behind the seizures of the documents, referring to "the Biden Administration’s unprecedented nine-hour search" of Trump's property and "the extraordinary circumstance of a presidential administration ransacking the home of its one-time — and possibly future — political rival."
The attorneys general also stated that they offered the brief "to highlight how the Administration’s conduct in connection with this case is of a piece with the gamesmanship and other questionable conduct that have become the hallmarks of its litigating, policy-making, and public-relations efforts."
Federal prosecutors argue that roughly 100 documents seized in the search are classified or top secret records, which are not subject to any privilege arguments by a former president.
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In a hearing Tuesday before the special master, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, warned Trump's lawyers they ultimately would have to supply evidence backing the former president's claims that he had declassified the records in question.
"You can't have your cake and eat it," Dearie said.
Cameron is one of several prominent candidates running for governor in Kentucky next year, but this summer he picked up the coveted endorsement of Trump, who remains popular among Republican voters in the state, where he had a blowout margin of victory over President Joe Biden in 2020.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron backs Trump in Mar-a-Lago document case
