The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case that could have benefited former President Donald Trump in his legal battle with the Department of Justice over the seized documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
The case questioned the legality of “filter teams” reviewing documents collected during an investigation to assess which of them are protected by the attorney-client privilege. If a document is deemed privileged, it is off-limits to investigators in a criminal case.
The DOJ is using filter teams, including investigators and prosecutors, to conduct the review. The team of experts is deciding which documents are privileged before a decision is made in court.
The case, Korf v. The United States, challenged the use of this procedure in general. Last week, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari, which means it will not examine the case and whether “filter teams” are allowed to proceed with the work.
