Former President Trump and the Department of Justice each submitted two special master candidates to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
The Justice Department proposed two retired judges, Friday, in their filing with the court. Barbara Jones was formerly a federal judge in Manhattan. She also has prior experience as a special master, serving as such against Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen. The other judge acceptable to the feds is Thomas Griffith, previously an appellate judge in Washington, D.C., for 15 years.
Fox News further reported:
The Trump team proposed one retired judge, Raymond Dearie — also the former top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York — and a prominent Florida lawyer, Paul Huck, Jr.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had given both sides until Friday to submit potential candidates for the role of a special master, as well as proposals for the scope of the person’s duties and the schedule for his or her work.
Both parties say they will advise Judge Cannon about their respective positions on the other party’s proposed candidates on Monday, September 12, 2022. If the two sides can not agree on a candidate, Judge Cannon can appoint a candidate on her own.
Lawyers for Trump said they believe the so-called special master should review all documents seized by the FBI during its search last month of Mar-a-Lago, including records with classification markings, and filter out any that may be protected by claims of executive privilege.
The Justice Department, by contrast, said it does not believe the arbiter should be permitted to inspect classified records or resolve potential claims of executive privilege.
Fox News first reported this week that the FBI seized Trump’s medical records, documents with his accounting information and correspondence related to his taxes.
Attorney-client privilege refers to a legal privilege that keeps communications between an attorney and a client confidential. It is unclear, at this point, if the records include communications between the former president and his private attorneys, White House counsel during the Trump administration or a combination.
Judge Cannon also told Justice Department lawyers they may not use any of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago until they have been vetted by the special master. The Justice Department has announced it plans to appeal Cannon’s ruling.
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