Former President Donald Trump has hired Chris Kise, a former Florida solicitor general, and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, to represent him in the explosive Justice Department probe that led to the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida and subsequent discovery of boxes of confidential materials, NBC News reported Tuesday.
Last week, the former president’s lawyers asked for the appointment of a special master who’d be tasked with reviewing the records taken during the Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Florida property and setting aside documents protected by claims of legal privilege. On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said it was her “preliminary intent” to appoint such a person — which would be an early procedural win for the Trump legal team — but gave the department an opportunity to respond and scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further.
A highly regarded attorney, Kise has won four cases before the Supreme Court and several in the Florida Supreme Court. His addition to Trump’s defense marks a dramatic upgrade from his current team, which has made a string of embarrassing rookie mistakes and has been outmaneuvered by federal prosecutors.
The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified records during the Aug. 8 search, and the affidavit made public Friday said 184 documents with classified markings also were found in 15 boxes removed in January.
[ What we learned from the unsealed Mar-a-Lago search affidavit — and what stayed secret ]
On Monday, the department said it had already completed its review of potentially privileged documents and identified a “limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.”
With News Wire Services