(FiveNation.com)- In a court filing this week, the U.S. Department of Justice hinted that it might be willing to accept one of former President Donald Trump’s choices to serve as the special master who examines the records that the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago last month.
According to prosecutors, Raymond J. Dearie would be a good fit for the position given his “extensive judicial experience,” which includes presiding over “federal criminal and civil matters, particularly federal trials containing national security and privilege problems,” according to a court filing.
The DOJ suggested that the special master be either Barbara S. Jones or Thomas B. Griffith, previously federal judges.
In the document, it was said that the government recognizes that each of the three applicants with prior court experience also currently employs employees who might assist in timely fulfilling the duties assigned to the special master. The government respectfully requests that the Court evaluate and pick the applicant most qualified to promptly carry out the special master’s delegated responsibilities among the three candidates.
A special master will be able to examine all the documents taken during the raid, according to a decision made earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
In a recent interview, William Barr, a former US attorney general, described Trump’s request for a special master to examine the items taken during the raid as “a bit of a red herring.”
“The only documents that have been taken, it seems to me, that there’s a legitimate concern about keeping away from the government and insulating the government from would be documents relating to his private lawyer communications, him as an individual, and his outside lawyers,” Barr said. “If there’s stuff like that, fine, identify it. There doesn’t appear to be much of it. I’m not sure you need a special master to identify it.”
Barr said that the other documents that were taken, even if they claim executive privilege, either belong to the government because they are government records or are subject to executive privilege, still belong to the government and go to the Archives.
He said that is what people are missing. Any additional documents, such as newspaper clippings and other items found in the boxes containing the secret information, were also subject to search under the order since they reveal the circumstances in which the data was kept.
So, he believes it to be a red herring. Since they have already reviewed the materials, he believes it is a waste of time at this point.
