The appointment of Donald Trump’s pick for special master to review the documents taken from his Mar-a-Lago home by the FBI was good news for the former president as his legal team believes the nominee is a skeptic of the agency, according to reports.
Raymond Dearie, who previously worked on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was approved as the special master to determine whether the documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort were improperly taken by the FBI after being nominated by the former president’s legal team. The ex-lawyer doesn’t have any clear connections or loyalty to Trump, raising questions as to why his attorneys would press for the appointment.
JUDGE DENIES DOJ REQUEST ON CLASSIFIED DOCS AND APPOINTS TRUMP PICK AS SPECIAL MASTER
Trump’s lawyers view that Dearie’s role in the secretive FISC makes him a skeptic of the FBI, prompting the legal team to push for his nomination, two people familiar with the decision told Axios. The sources added that Dearie’s part in the warrants that were approved to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide, in 2016 and 2017 strengthened this theory.
As special master, Dearie will be responsible for reviewing more than 11,000 documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to determine whether they violate attorney-client or executive privileges. His appointment could cause some delays to the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act by taking the documents from the White House.
The DOJ did not nominate Dearie as a potential nominee for special master, but the department signed off on the recommendation because of his “previous federal judicial experience and engagement in relevant areas of law.” U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon approved his appointment last week.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Dearie will begin reviewing the seized materials and must complete his review by Nov. 30 — more than a month after the DOJ’s requested deadline of Oct. 17. Law enforcement agencies will be blocked from accessing the materials until after the review is complete.
The DOJ has appealed the decision to pause the criminal investigation, requesting access to some materials they believe causes “the most serious and immediate harm to the government and the public.” That request was made to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not yet issued a decision.
