The United States Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday to allow it to renew reviewing classified materials seized during an FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.

The Justice Department asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to overturn a portion of a lower court decision that prevents prosecutors from using classified documents in their criminal probe into the retention of government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach after his term in office ended.

Also read: US judge halts review of documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

The department also requested that Senior US Judge Raymond Dearie, who was appointed to examine all of the records taken in the federal raid on Trump’s behalf, be denied access to the confidential documents.

The government requested that the appeals court rules on the request “as soon as practicable.”

The government’s move comes after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon denied the Justice Department’s requests on Thursday.

Among the 11,000 records collected in the FBI’s court-approved August 8 raid at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort were approximately 100 classified documents.

Also read: Trump, Obama among ex-Presidents invited for Queen Elizabeth’s US memorial service

Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, had previously stated that she would instruct Dearie, who is acting as a “special master” in the case, to prioritise the classified records in his review, which she has set a November 30 deadline to accomplish.

Experts believe that if Cannon’s ruling stands, the Justice Department’s investigation into the government records will be halted.

Also read: Joe Biden’s approval ratings rise sharply ahead of midterm elections: Poll

The department is also investigating possible obstruction of the investigation after discovering evidence that records were removed or covered up from the FBI when it sent agents to Mar-a-Lago in June to attempt to retrieve all classified material through a grand jury subpoena.

Also read: January 6 Committee debates calling Donald Trump, Mike Pence for testimony

The Justice Department must now persuade the Atlanta-based appeals court, which has a conservative majority, to take its side in the records probe litigation. Six of the 11 active judges on the 11th Circuit are Trump appointees.