In her order, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon refused a Justice Department request to lift her temporary prohibition on the department’s use of the roughly 100 classified records that were taken during the Aug. 8 search. She also granted the newly named special master, Raymond Dearie, access to the entire tranche of documents seized from the property even though the department had said the arbiter shouldn’t be permitted to inspect the batch of classified records.
The Justice Department is expected to contest the judge’s order to a federal appeals court. It had given Cannon until Thursday to put on hold her order barring the continued review of classified records, and said it would ask the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene if she did not do so then.
"It had given Cannon until Thursday to put on hold her order" sounds like an arrogant out-of-control tyranny trying to affect the November midterms..and yes, it is
| Isn’t that reversing the roles of master (mistress) and servant? After all, lawyer proposes, judge disposes. |
The selection of Dearie, a former federal prosecutor who for years served as the chief judge of the federal court based in Brooklyn, came after both the Justice Department and Trump’s lawyers made clear that they would be satisfied with his appointment as a so-called special master.
In that role, Dearie will be responsible for reviewing the documents taken during the search of Mar-a-Lago and segregating out any that may be covered by claims of privilege. It is not clear how long the work will take but the special master process has already delayed the investigation, with Cannon directing the Justice Department to temporarily pause core aspects of its probe.
The Justice Department is investigating the hoarding of top-secret materials and other classified documents at the Florida property after Trump left office. The FBI says it recovered more than 11,000 documents from the home during its search, including roughly 100 with classification markings.
| Less than 1% should be of any interest to the FBI/DOJ... |
Cannon, a Trump appointee, disagreed and directed both sides to name potential candidates for the role. She also ordered the Justice Department to halt its review of the documents for investigative purposes until "further Court order" or until the special master completes their review.
The Trump team recommended either Dearie or a Florida lawyer for the job. The Justice Department said that, in addition to the two retired judges whose names it submitted, it would also be satisfied with a Dearie appointment.
Dearie served as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York from 1982 to 1986, at which point he was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Ronald Reagan. He has also served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes Justice Department wiretap applications in investigations involving suspected agents of a foreign power.
He took senior status in 2011, but the Justice Department has said he remains active and had indicated to officials that he was available for the position and could work expeditiously if appointed to it.
Related:
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-06 Judge GRANTS Trump's request to have a special master review documents seized in Mar-a-Lago raid
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-05 Judge authorizes special master to review Trump Mar-a-Lago raid documents, temporarily blocks DOJ using records for probe
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-05 FBI found more than 11,000 government records at Trump's Florida home
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-06 Judge GRANTS Trump's request to have a special master review documents seized in Mar-a-Lago raid
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-05 Judge authorizes special master to review Trump Mar-a-Lago raid documents, temporarily blocks DOJ using records for probe
Aileen Cannon: 2022-09-05 FBI found more than 11,000 government records at Trump's Florida home