The Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to one of the special master nominees proposed by former President Donald Trump’s legal team to review documents seized by FBI agents from Mar-a-Lago.
The DOJ said the three candidates met the “important qualifications for this position” given their “previous judicial experience and engagement in relevant areas of law.”
“Judges Jones, Griffith, and Dearie 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,” the filing says.
Additionally, Dearie served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) from 2012 to 2019.
However, the DOJ rejected the Trump team’s other nominee.
“The government respectfully opposes the appointment of Paul Huck, Jr., who does not appear to have similar experience,” the filing says.
Huck, the founder of Huck Law firm, served as deputy attorney general in Florida from 2003 to 2007, and then was a general counsel to Charlie Crist for two years, who was a Republican at the time and the governor of Florida.
“There are specific reasons why those nominees are not preferred for service as Special Master in this case,” the lawyers stated in a three-page filing, without elaborating on the reasons for their opposition.
Instead, the lawyers asked “for permission to specifically express our objections to the Government’s nominees only at such time that the Court specifies a desire to obtain and consider that information.”
Jones, originally a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, is a retired federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is currently a partner for Bracewell LLP.
Griffith served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2020, after he was nominated to the position by then-President George W. Bush.
It is not known when Cannon will make her decision on who the special master will be.
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