Trump v. United States (2022)
Donald J. Trump v. United States of America (case no. 22‑81294‑CIV‑CANNON) was a 2022 lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida by former President Donald Trump. He asked the judge to appoint a “special master” to review all materials seized on August 8 during the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search to determine if any should be returned to him because of attorney‑client or executive privilege.
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, oversaw the case. She ordered the Department of Justice to release the detailed list of seized items on September 1, to pause its review on September 5, and on September 15 appointed Raymond J. Dearie as the special master. The DOJ appealed to the Eleventh Circuit on September 16. On September 22, the appeals court allowed investigators access to the classified files and blocked the special master from accessing them.
On December 1, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit ended the special master review, allowed the government to use all the documents in its investigation, and told the lower court to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit, ruling Cannon lacked equitable jurisdiction to appoint a special master and that the case did not warrant intervention in ongoing investigations by the executive branch. Trump did not appeal to the Supreme Court, and Cannon dismissed the case on December 12, 2022 for lack of jurisdiction.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:28 (CET).