Department of Justice compares Donald Trump's legal team's efforts to get back documents to those of his former ally Michael Cohen — and notes Cohen did it faster

• Former President Trump has requested an outside expert to review materials seized at Mar-a-Lago.
• The Justice Department said in a Tuesday filing that this move would be "unnecessary."

Former President Donald Trump's efforts to recover documents seized by the FBI were similar to those of his ex-attorney Michael Cohen, the Department of Justice said in a court filing late Tuesday.

The 36-page filing comes a week after Trump sued in an attempt to stop the Justice Department from reviewing materials seized during the August 8 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump's lawyers requested in the suit that a federal judge appoint a "special master" — or outside expert — to see if any material seized has privilege.

The DOJ said in the Tuesday court filing that Trump's request, however, is "unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests."

The agency then compared these efforts to those of Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer.

"Typically, parties who seek the appointment of a special master following the execution of a search warrant make such requests immediately," the DOJ said, citing FBI search warrants executed on April 9, 2018, at properties belonging to Cohen.

That same day, Cohen sent a letter to the US Attorney's Office asking for an opportunity to review material that federal agents seized from his properties, the DOJ wrote on Tuesday, adding that Cohen said the government shouldn't review documents with attorney-client privilege.

When that request was denied, the DOJ said, Cohen filed a motion for a temporary restraining order just days later.

"The need for promptness when a party seeks appointment of a special master is obvious: the government may begin reviewing materials as soon as they are seized, and a delay of even two weeks may well mean — as it does here — that the government has reviewed all of the seized materials by the time relief is sought," the DOJ said in its court filing.