8/8/22: The FBI executes a search warrant and seizes many documents from Trump's resort.
8/22/22: Trump's legal team files a suit asking for the DOJ to be enjoined from investigating the documents
9/5/22: The court grants Trump's request
For nearly a month, the FBI/DOJ had no legal restriction in looking at what they seized (notwithstanding any self-imposed internal filtering team). Presumably the documents in question weren't the only copies.
Questions:
Is the FBI allowed to look at the originals/backups?
Do the agents who saw the documents before the order have to pretend like they don't remember anything and/or quarantine their notes or is that fair game?
If the FBI openly defies the order and continues to investigate what would the recourse be?
- Does the evidence become inadmissible even if the special master eventually determines there was no priviledge?
- Do individual agents get cited for criminal contempt but no change in Trump's case?
If the FBI surreptitiously defies the order and continues to investigate how would it be discovered?
- Couldn't they say that the fruits of those investigations happened during the period they were allowed to be investigating?
If the FBI/DOJ strictly adheres to the letter and intent of the order, what's to stop Trump's team from eventually accusing them of having violated the order?
- One scenario might be that on 9/1 they made an appointment to interview someone on 9/10. Trump's team says "See they violated the no investigation order". This, of course, circles back to the second question.