Raymond Dearie is appointed as a third party to review records seized by the FBI for privileged materials

A US judge on Thursday refused to let the US Justice Department immediately resume reviewing classified records seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) from Donald Trump’s Florida home in an ongoing criminal investigation, siding with the former president.

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon also appointed Senior District Judge Raymond Dearie as a third party to review records seized by the FBI for materials that could be privileged and kept from federal investigators.

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The Justice Department promised to appeal if Cannon ruled against its request. It also sought to block Dearie from vetting the roughly 100 classified documents included among the 11,000 records gathered in the court-approved August 8 search.

"The court does not find it appropriate to accept the government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion," Cannon wrote Thursday.

Her ruling further complicates the Justice Department’s investigation. The special master’s review could wall off documents from prosecutors as they weigh the possibility of criminal charges.

The Justice Department is investigating Trump for retaining government records – some marked as highly classified, including "top secret" – at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office in January 2021.

It is also looking into possible obstruction of the probe after it found evidence that records may have been removed or concealed from the FBI when it sent agents to Mar-a-Lago in June.

The documents inquiry is one of several federal and state investigations that Trump is facing as he considers another run for the presidency in 2024.