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Department Of Justice Demands Trump Pay The Cost Of Special Master

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


The Department of Justice and the attorneys for former President Donald Trump have given their suggestions as to who the special master should be in the case of the search of Mar-a-Lago, but the government wants more.

The Department of Justice wants the former president to pay for the special master in the case, but Trump has said that they should split the cost, Mediaite reported.

“Plaintiff proposes to split evenly the professional fees and expenses of the Special Master and any professionals, support staff, and expert consultants engaged at the Master’s request,” it said in the filing.

“The Government’s position is that, as the party requesting the special master, Plaintiff should bear the additional expense of the Special Master’s work,” it said.

Both parties also submitted their candidates for special master.

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Government’s Proposed Candidates

The Honorable Barbara S. Jones (ret.) – retired judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, partner in Bracewell LLP, and special master in In re: in the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 28, 2021 and In the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 9, 2018.

The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith (ret.) – retired Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, special counsel in Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.

Plaintiff’s Proposed Candidates

The Honorable Raymond J. Dearie (ret.) – former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, formerly the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Paul Huck, Jr.—founder, The Huck Law Firm, former Jones Day partner, former General Counsel to the Governor, former Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida.

The Department of Justice has decided to appeal the decision of the judge who appointed a special master to oversee the documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s private residence.

It also asked that asked Judge Aileen Cannon pause her order that blocked the Department of Justice from continuing to review the documents, NBC News reported.

The moves came three days after Cannon approved Trump’s request for a special master to sift through the seized materials to identify personal items and records that are protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.

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The DOJ had opposed that request, saying a team of agency officials had already completed a privilege review of the documents, and that a special master could harm the government’s national security interests.

In another court filing Thursday, the DOJ asked Cannon to make public a notice on the status of that team’s filter review process, which had been filed under seal on Aug. 30.

This week U.S. District Judge from the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Monday ordered that a special master be appointed to review records seized last month by the FBI during a raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

She ordered that an independent third-party be appointed to “review the seized property, manage assertions of privilege and make recommendations thereon, and evaluate claims for return of property.”

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“The Court hereby authorizes the appointment of a special master to review the seized property for personal items and documents and potentially privileged material subject to claims of attorney- client and/or executive privilege,” the order states.

“Furthermore, in natural conjunction with that appointment, and consistent with the value and sequence of special master procedures, the Court also temporarily enjoins the Government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order,” it adds.

The order, though, “shall not impede the classification review and/or intelligence assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (“ODNI”) as described in the Government’s Notice of Receipt of Preliminary Order.”

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