The Justice Department said it is open to a judge appointing one of the candidates that former President Donald Trump’s legal team put forward as a special master to review the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, according to a court filing Monday evening.
DOJ said senior Judge Raymond Dearie is acceptable, along with its two previously proposed selections: retired federal judges Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith.
“Each have substantial judicial experience, during which they have presided over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving national security and privilege concerns,” prosecutors wrote.
Dearie, originally a nominee of former President Ronald Reagan, has served as a federal judge in New York since the 1980s. He retired in 2011 and is now a senior judge on the circuit.
Dearie also served a seven-year term on the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISA court. He was one of the judges who approved an FBI and DOJ request to surveil Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, as part of the federal inquiry into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
It is unclear when US District Judge Aileen Cannon will decide who the special master is.
Cannon last week granted Trump’s request for a third-party attorney outside of the government to review the seized materials and asked that each side submit proposed candidates. Cannon also ordered criminal investigators at the Justice Department to stop using the seized materials as part of their ongoing probe until the special master finishes his or her review.
Trump opposes DOJ nominees, but didn’t say why
Earlier Monday, Trump said he opposes the Justice Department’s
