DOJ and Trump Team Disagree on Special Master Candidates, Scope of Duties in Mar-a-Lago Raid Case
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team and the U.S. Justice Department on Friday each proposed two candidates to serve as a neutral third party—a special master—to review documents the FBI seized when it raided Trump’s Florida residence Mar-a-lago last month.
Besides proposing different people for the role, the two sides disagreed over the scope of duties the special master should have. In particular, they disagree on whether classified records should be excluded from the review.
The Trump legal team’s proposed candidates are Raymond Dearie and Paul Huck Jr. Dearie, now retired, was the former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and was also the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He also previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Huck is a prominent Florida lawyer who was a former General Counsel to the Governor and a former Deputy Attorney General for Florida.
The Justice Department’s two proposed candidates are retired judges Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith. Jones previously served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and was previously a special master in two previous high-profile investigations involving two of Trump’s former lawyers. Griffith was a former Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Disputing Special Master Boundaries
The Justice Department told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in a joint filing late Friday (pdf) that Trump’s team wants the special master to be allowed to review “all seized materials, including documents with classification markings” that the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s team also wants the special master to filter out any documents that may be protected by “potential Executive Privilege claims.”
The Justice Department indicated that it does not believe the special master should be allowed to review any classified records
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