US: 'Special master' appointed to oversee Donald Trump's case dubbed 'fair & no-nonsense'

Raymond Dearie, a senior US district judge, has been appointed as the "special master" to review documents that have been seized by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials from former President Donald Trump's Florida house - Mar-a-Lago. According to reports, the 78-year-old Dearie has been characterised as a fair and seasoned legal operator who "does not tolerate nonsense." Earlier on September 15, US district judge Aileen Cannon appointed Dearie as the "special master" to oversee the ongoing legal battle between Trump and the Department of Justice, The Guardian reported. 

According to reports, both parties are arguing whether criminal investigators should have access to dozens of boxes of official records, including extremely sensitive US data, that the former President concealed at his Florida house after leaving the White House. “Dearie works incredibly well with parties but doesn’t tolerate nonsense. He will not allow parties, or attorneys, to play games, or play fast-and-loose with the rules,” Richard Garbarini, a New York-based civil lawyer, told Politico. Notably, Dearie was one of two nominees put out by former President Trump for the position.

Justice Department objects to Dearie's appointment as 'special master'

Meanwhile, the Justice Department objected to the decision by US District Judge Cannon, arguing that authorities had already finished their assessment of possibly classified documents and there was no need for an outside legal expert. The Justice Department also requested a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's ruling that prevented it from temporarily evaluating a set of secret documents that had been found at Trump's house during the FBI search. The department claimed that the judge's hold had hampered the government's efforts to safeguard the country's security and interfered with its investigation. 

FBI's raid at Trump's Florida house

Earlier in January 2022, the National Archives, which is in charge of gathering presidential material, recovered the items which sparked a months-long Justice Department investigation into whether Trump was unlawfully holding secret materials at his house in Florida. According to the Presidential Records Act, which was adopted in 1978, White House records must be preserved as the US government's property. Meanwhile, former FBI officials have claimed that possession of the government's records by Trump was a "potential crime" that led to the raid at his house on August 8. 

Image: AP