U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday appointed Raymond J. Dearie as the special master to oversee the review of thousands of documents and other material FBI agents seized from former President Donald Trump's residence in Florida last month.
Dearie, 78, is a former chief federal judge in New York, and was the Trump legal team's choice to serve as special master. The Justice Department indicated last week it was was fine with Dearie being appointed, but did not believe the special master should be able to look through the sensitive classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago.
Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told The Washington Post Dearie is "a very matter-of-fact, down to earth judge with a minimum of pomposity. He will do a credible job and will do it quickly."
In her Thursday decision, Cannon, a Trump appointee, denied the Justice Department's request to keep the classified documents out of the special master review. She also wrote that prosecutors cannot use the seized material in their criminal investigation until the review is finished; the Justice Department had said postponing access to the documents could risk national security. The government is likely to appeal the decision.