(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Trump's legal team says a special master is needed to ensure the Justice Department releases his personal documents from the Mar-a-Lago search.
A federal court has appointed Raymond Dearie, a senior US district judge competent in national security matters, as an impartial arbiter to review FBI materials confiscated from Donald Trump's Florida residence.
US district judge Aileen Cannon appointed Dearie as a special master in the court dispute between Trump and the DOJ over official records the former president maintained at his Florida property, The Guardian reported.
The previous president had suggested two candidates for the position, and the US justice department had stated that it would not object to Dearie's nomination.
Judge Cannon-DOJ Clash
In her ruling, Cannon also rejected the justice department's requests, including its insistence that prosecutors be permitted to continue their examination of the documents while the case was in progress and their argument that the inquiry was urgent because of the records' extremely sensitive and secret information.
The Justice Department contended that the September 5 order hampered the intelligence community's examination of national security threats posed by unlawful keeping of the records.
On Thursday, Cannon reiterated that her decision did not prevent the administration from briefing members of Congress or from continuing to evaluate the seized data for intelligence classification and national security assessments, according to NBC News.
She said that while Dearie's suggestions were being reviewed, the order restricted the government from utilizing confiscated documents for criminal investigations, such as presenting them to a grand jury or using them for witness interviews.
The administration will probably appeal Thursday's verdict. The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals will hear an appeal of Cannon's prior ruling, according to the Justice Department's court statement last week.
What Are Dearie's Duties?
A special master is a lawyer appointed by a court to supervise a particular case's portion.
According to CNN, Dearie will oversee the Justice Department's analysis of evidence from Trump's Florida home and resort and filter out privileged materials.
However, there have been differences between Donald Trump and the Justice Department on other crucial elements of the special master review, such as how long it should last, who should pay for it, and what kinds of documents are covered by it.
Dearie has until November 30 to complete his assessment of possibly confidential papers, per Cannon.
The DOJ wanted the procedure completed by October, but Trump's team requested a 90-day timeline.
According to Cannon's timeline, the study will be finished after the midterm congressional elections, thereby ensuring that the Mar-a-Lago inquiry would go gradually for the next two months, pending intervention from a higher court.
She gave Dearie the order to go through confidential documents that may be privileged.
Trump's legal team has generally maintained that the appointment of a special master is required to guarantee that the Justice Department releases any of his personal papers taken during the search at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the former President's lawyers, his constitutional rights were infringed, and protected information was possibly taken.
Donald Trump hasn't specified what he wants a special master to screen out beyond protected and "potentially privileged materials."
Trump's legal team had also proposed Jones Day lawyer Paul Huck Jr. as a special master. But the DOJ said he doesn't appear to have comparable expertise as Dearie and two former federal judges the department put forth.
Related Article: Donald Trump Claims US Government Will Have 'Big Problems' if He's Indicted Over Mar-a-Lago Documents
