The Justice Department will appeal a federal judge’s decision ordering the selection of a special master to review documents taken by the FBI last month from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home.

The department filed a notice of appeal Thursday after receiving unexpected rhetorical cover earlier this week from Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled Monday that an independent third party should review documents taken by agents Aug. 8 from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, which the authorities say included official secrets.

Biden administration lawyers asked Cannon to pause her ruling as the appeal is considered by the Atlanta-based US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

The documents in question “indisputably belong to the government, not Plaintiff,” the Justice Department said.

Trump argues some of those records are shielded by executive privilege, attorney-client privilege or other legal protections. 

But Trump “does not and could not assert that he owns or has any possessory interest in classified records; that he has any right to have those government records returned to him; or that he can advance any plausible claims of attorney-client privilege as to such records that would bar the government from reviewing or using them,” the authorities said.

The government added that “although [Cannon] suggested that [Trump] might be able to assert executive privilege as to some of the seized records, Supreme Court precedent makes clear that any possible assertion of privilege that [Trump] might attempt to make over the classified records would be overcome by the government’s ‘demonstrated, specific need’ for that evidence.”

Cannon delivered the unexpected win for Trump after the 45th president alleged that the FBI raid was part of a long-running “witch hunt.”

“In addition to being deprived of potentially significant personal documents, which alone creates a real harm, plaintiff faces an unquantifiable potential harm by way of improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public,” the judge wrote in her order.

But critics of the ruling said that a special master was unnecessary in the case, which is focused on whether Trump mishandled government records — including classified information — after leaving office last year.

Barr, who served as Trump’s final Senate-confirmed attorney general, slammed Cannon’s ruling Tuesday as “deeply flawed.”

“I don’t think the appointment of a special master is going to hold up, but even if it does, I don’t see it fundamentally changing the trajectory,” he told Fox News. “In other words, I don’t think it changes the ball game so much as maybe we’ll have a rain delay for a couple of innings.”

“I think the fundamental dynamics of the case are set,” Barr added, “which is the government has very strong evidence of what it needs to determine whether charges [are] appropriate, which is government documents were taken, classified information was taken and not handled appropriately. And they are looking into — and there’s some evidence to suggest — that they were deceived. And none of that really relates to the content of documents. It relates to the fact that there were documents there and the fact that they were classified, and the fact that they were subpoenaed and were never delivered.”

Trump responded angrily to the appeal angrily Thursday, writing on Truth Social: “So now the FBI & Biden Department of ‘Justice’ leakers are going to spend Millions of Dollars, & vast amounts of Time & Energy, to appeal the Order on the ‘Raid of Mar-a-Lago Document Hoax,’ by a brilliant and courageous Judge whose words of wisdom rang true throughout our Nation, instead of fighting the record setting corruption and crime that is taking place right before their very eyes. They SPIED on my Campaign, lied to FISA COURT, told Facebook ‘quiet,’ preside over worst CRIME WAVE ever!!”

The 45th president added in a separate post: “They leak, lie, plant fake evidence, allow the spying on my campaign, deceive the FISA Court, RAID and Break-Into my home, lose documents, and then they ask me, as the 45th President of the United States, to trust them. Look at the I.G. Reports on Comey, McCabe, and others. Things are safer in the middle of Central Park!”