News/Commentary

DoJ agrees to accept ONE of Trump’s candidates for special master

September 13, 2022 | | Print Article

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has yet to announce her pick for the special master to oversee the documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s home, but on Monday the Justice Department officially signaled their agreement with the former president despite overt partisanship to date.

Following Cannon’s granting the request for a special master to review the more than 11,000 documents seized at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, the judge had ordered the legal teams of Trump and the DOJ to submit two candidates to fill the role and how they would proceed in their oversight by Friday. Despite having appealed that ruling from Cannon, the Justice Department met the demand and, by Monday, had responded to Trump’s picks in a court filing.

CBS News’ Catherine Herridge reported, “NEW: DOJ files motion objecting to one of Trump team’s proposed special master candidates. Urges court to appoint either the other Trump candidate–Honorable Raymond J. Dearie–or one of theirs–Honorable Barbara S. Jones (ret.) or The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith (ret.)”

Examining the reaction from the DOJ to accept one of Trump’s selections, The Washington Post briefly profiled Dearie and described the 78-year-old who “still serves as a judge in Brooklyn federal court, albeit on senior status, which means he can, if he chooses, take a reduced caseload. He was the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn in the 1980s–a time when the office’s workload was dominated by the pursuit of mobsters, gang leaders and financial fraudsters.”

“Dearie was nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan and became one of the most highly regarded jurists in the Eastern District of New York. He previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees sensitive national security cases,” the Post added.

By comparison, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) criticized the suggestions put forward by the DOJ, tweeting Monday morning, “The Biden administration suggested a DNC donor to serve as President Trump’s Special Master. Their second pick was named to Biden’s Supreme Court commission. This is partisanship at its finest.”

Considering the political witch hunt that the investigation into Trump has been decried as, the “partisanship” of the Justice Department’s picks came as little surprise. However, there was some speculation that if the DOJ was in support of one of Trump’s choices then it didn’t bode well for that individual being a good pick.

That said, according to the filing, opposition to Paul Huck was based solely on a perceived lack of experience to handle the review. As submitted, it read, “Judges Jones, Griffith and Dearie each have substantial judicial experience, during which they have presided over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving national security and privilege concerns. The government respectfully opposes the appointment of Paul Huck Jr., who does not appear to have similar experience.”

Kevin Haggerty
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