'Special Master' Named to Oversee Trump Mar-a-Lago Files

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Facts

  • US federal judge Raymond Dearie, 78, has been chosen to review the files seized in the FBI's search of former Pres. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
  • The US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) said it doesn't oppose Dearie's selection, who was one of two candidates for the position. US District Judge Aileen Cannon also rejected the DOJ's demand to continue their review of seized documents while the process is ongoing.
  • Dearie, a nominee of former Pres. Reagan, has served as a federal judge in New York since 1986 before acting in the semi-retirement role of senior judge since 2011. He also served a seven-year term on the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
  • Cannon ordered Trump to pay 100% of the costs of the review, also granting Dearie access to all of the documents including the classified records under "controlled access" conditions.
  • The New York judge will now be tasked with reviewing and separating any documents deemed under the purview of attorney-client privilege.
  • Dearie has until Nov. 30 to complete his review - six weeks longer than the DOJ had requested. Over 11K documents from Mar-a-Lago were recovered on Aug. 8, including more than 300 classified documents.

Sources: BBC News, Guardian, CNN, USA Today, FOX News, and New York Post.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by BNN Bloomberg. Dearie is a no-nonsense, fair, and wise jurist with a long pedigree. Democrats are incorrect to assume that just because he was Trump-appointed, he won't do his job correctly of sorting out attorney-client privilege. Dearie will call balls and strikes, and finally, give this hyped case the due process it deserves.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. Judge Cannon fumbled here. Her Labor Day ruling to appoint a "special master" was ridiculed by legal experts from across the political spectrum, and there's little guidance on how Dearie would referee any claims of executive privilege by Trump. This process will only drag on as the DOJ plans to appeal Cannon's ruling to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, where even more Republican judges await to muddy the waters.

Predictions