He's an ex-President and therefore, since it is possible criminal charges may follow this investigation, it is best every i is dotted and every t crossed.
The examination doesn’t seem capable of upsetting the central fact that, if not without exception, at least the preponderance of documents will be government property. How could it be otherwise?
In these 'post-Strzok' days, probably better for DOJ to have an independent assessment recorded before the matter proceeds, in my opinion.
Tactically, any delay is generally understood to be useful, but perhaps it is strategically more useful to the DOJ to completely dispose of the matter before any (potential) criminal prosecution is contemplated, because it concerns one basic 'proof' that conviction would require.
I guess the defense will try to 'Rumpole' the whole out if the Special Master can find one document among those the DOJ allege belongs to the government, which he concludes does not.
Seems a bit of a long bow to me, but US jurisprudence can be pretty weird.
