Late Friday, the Justice Department filed its long-awaited appeal of the special master order of United States District Judge Aileen Cannon. While the Administration previously argued that the appointment itself is a threat to national security and unsupportable, it notably dropped its opposition to the appointment on appeal and only appealed one aspect of the order. It is only asking the 11th Circuit to allow it to continue using classified documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in a criminal investigation. The filing may reflect that time is running out for the Administration since a special master is now in place and is likely to prioritize (and release) these very documents.

While legal experts pushed the department to challenge the entire order, the Department is seeking a smaller target. In litigation the rule is the same as in hunting: “aim small, miss small.”

Despite a chorus of legal experts claiming that the entire order is legally unfounded and unsupportable, the DOJ is not making those arguments in court. Indeed, it is not making the sweeping demands that it presented before Judge Cannon. It is only seeking access to roughly a hundred out of the thousands of documents seized in the Mar-a-Lago raid.