Trump’s $100M Lawsuit Odds Revealed!

Former President Donald Trump would likely find it “difficult to prevail” in his potential $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department over the raid for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago,” according to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

Trump’s attorneys took a significant step on Monday by filing an administrative claim with the Justice Department over the August 8, 2022, raid on Mar-a-Lago and the subsequent indictment secured by special counsel Jack Smith.

This claim, a preliminary move before potentially filing a lawsuit, accuses the FBI and DOJ of engaging in a “malicious political prosecution aimed at affecting an electoral outcome to prevent former President Trump from being re-elected,” according to a report by the New York Post.

Legal expert Turley noted that similar to Trump during his presidency, the DOJ enjoys a “form of immunity,” which could complicate any lawsuit that Trump’s legal team might pursue.

“Well, I think he is going to find greater political traction than legal traction on this type of case, the odds are against him,” the law professor said. “This is a very difficult type of case to prevail on against the Justice Department. They’re given their own form of immunity, ironically, for discretionary functions. “Now, to get around that, what the Trump team is saying is that the Supreme Court has established that this was unconstitutional, that there are privileges or protections here, that you shouldn’t have gone forward with this That remains an issue on appeal as to what extent the president has those protections, the Supreme Court itself said, at least with regards to the presidential immunity aspects that they have not ruled on this previously. So, this is the type of area the courts tend to not like to be pulled into. So, the odds are against the Trump team on this. What they do get potentially is discovery, but that’s a two-way street. The Department of Justice then gets discovery as well against the Trump team.”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the charges against Trump related to the classified documents case in July, citing the unlawful appointment of Smith as special counsel. Judge Cannon had previously ordered the appointment of a special master to review documents seized during the Mar-a-Lago raid, but this decision was later overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

“The Supreme Court said that you are not protected for acts that are personal in nature, but you’re also not protected for official acts that are done for personal reasons. That’s a sort of gray area,” Turley said. “They established these three sets of cases, and the courts have to determine where this falls. Now the court in Florida did dismiss this case, and the Trump team has arguments here that are not frivolous..”

Despite Trump’s compliance with some FBI requests before the raid, Turley suggested that the former president may still face challenges in his legal battle.

“The odds, in this case, seem to favor the Justice Department,” Turley concluded.

 

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