Raymond Dearie appointed special master in Trump's Mar-a-Lago probe
![Mar-a-Lago.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PteHGsEJzd4E2hsJJC9a3j-415-80.jpg)
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."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Magazine solutions - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Magazine printables - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
'In a normal country, their activities wouldn't even be crimes'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Judge reopens Trump challenge in secrets case
Speed Read Aileen Cannon continues to delay and complicate the classified documents case
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published