Trump Investigation Ramps Up Before Expected 2024 Announcement

The special master appointed in Donald Trump's classified documents case has announced he will be consulting with the National Archives and Records Administration to discuss its practices regarding the categorization of materials under the Presidents Record Act.

Judge Raymond Dearie, who was tasked with independently reviewing the thousands of documents removed from Trump's Florida property in August to determine if any are protected by attorney-client or special privilege, gave an update to the inquiry on Monday evening.

In court filings, Dearie announced that he intends to get in contact with the National Archives about how it categorizes certain presidential materials, and that any party that wants to comment on this consultation must submit a letter of a maximum three pages by November 10.

The announcement was made just prior to Trump, who denies any wrongdoing in the Mar-a-Lago case, giving yet another major hint that he will formally announce his intentions to run for presidency again in 2024 following the "critical" midterms elections.

"And I would say in the strongest way, it is a country-saving election," Trump said at a rally in Dayton, Ohio on Monday night. "I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida."

Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor, tweeted that the move from Dearie was an "interesting new development" while noting it may prove "moot" if the Department of Justice wins its appeal to shut down the special master review. The DoJ argued that District Judge Aileen Cannon had no basis or justification to make such an appointment.

Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Joyce Alene also agreed that the move "becomes moot" if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sides with the DoJ, but "any information he surfaces about NARA practices is unlikely to help Trump."

Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former U.S attorney, told Newsweek she does not believe Dearie meeting with the NARA is a significant development, but merely the special master "educating himself about how NARA keeps his records so that he can do his job effectively."

McQuade also does not think Trump announcing his plan to run for president again on November 15 will affect the case.

"Otherwise, any defendant could control an investigation by announcing their running for president," McQuade told Newsweek.

"DOJ's policy about election interference comes into play only as the election itself draws near. I would put that timeframe as about 60 days before the first primary election in January 2024."

Dearie also set a December 1 deadline for an in-person status conference to hear arguments about legal issues surrounding the case, with the special master planning to release his report in the classified materials case on December 16.

Trump has denied allegations he mishandled classified materials seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago resort. The former president has made disputed claims that he declassified all the documents before he left the White House in January 2021.

Trump has also declared the presidential materials were his to take freely, rather than be returned to the NARA as required under law.

During recent rallies, including Monday night's one in Ohio, Trump has attempted to claim his actions were similar to how other former presidents such as Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton had presidential documents removed from White House after they left office.

However, the documents which were removed were maintained and owned by the National Archives and Records Administration and stored in NARA facilities so they could be later housed in libraries.

The former presidents or their administration also did not remove the documents personally themselves and, crucially, none of the presidential documents which were temporarily stored in NARA facilities were classified or top secret.