Kyle Becker
Retired Judge Raymond Dearie, the court-appointed Special Master in former President Donald Trump’s ‘classified’ documents case, has been reprimanded for his demand that Donald Trump produce evidence that the Department of Justice ‘planted evidence’ in the siege at Mar-a-Lago.
“There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff at this stage, prior to the review of any of the Seized Materials, to lodge ex ante final objections to the accuracy of Defendant’s Inventory, its descriptions, or its contents,” Judge Aileen Cannon wrote on Thursday.
Judge Cannon also extended deadlines for the Defendant Donald Trump in the case until after the 2022 midterm elections.
“No later than October 14, 2022, Defendant shall file a Notice of Completion on the docket certifying that it has made available to Plaintiff all of the Seized Materials as set forth above,” the ruling stated. “No later than twenty-one (21) calendar days after the receipt of Defendant’s Notice of Completion, Plaintiff shall provide the Special Master and Defendant with one comprehensive, annotated copy of the spreadsheet described above that specifies, for each document, whether Plaintiff asserts any of the following”:
a. Attorney-client communication privilege;
b. Attorney work product privilege;
c. Executive Privilege;
d. Presidential Record within the meaning of the Presidential Records Act; and
e. Personal record within the meaning of the Presidential Records Act.
“Plaintiff’s designations shall be on a document-by-document basis,” Judge Cannon continued. “For any document that Plaintiff designates as privileged and/or personal, Plaintiff shall include a statement adequately explaining the precise basis for the designation, including, as relevant to any possible assertions of executive privilege, a sufficient description of the rationale and scope of the assertion from which to evaluate the merits of the assertion.”
Judge Cannon’s order made it clear that no determination about the allegedly classified documents would be made until well after the 2022 midterm elections.
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“Finally, in light of delays in securing an appropriate vendor to scan and make available the Seized Materials to Plaintiff and the Special Master, and recognizing the more precise quantification of the implicated pages of material [ECF No. 123 p. 1 (describing that the 11,000 documents approximate 200,000 pages of materials)], the Court hereby extends the end date for completion of the Special Master’s review and classifications from the prior date of November 30, 2022 [ECF No. 91 p. 5], to December 16, 2022,” Judge Cannon added. “This modest enlargement is necessary to permit adequate time for the Special Master’s review and recommendations given the circumstances as they have evolved since entry of the Appointment Order. Again, should a need arise to make limited modifications to this Plan following guidance from the Special Master, the Court will make such adjustments as necessary, recognizing the need for expeditious treatment of this action.”
The judge’s decision to take politics out of the legal dispute as much as possible has the left brimming with outrage.
“[L]udicrous, not even trying to maintain facade of judicial impartiality,” Trump critics Jen Rubin of the Washington Post acidly remarked.
Judge Cannon’s ruling to extend the deadlines until after the midterm elections, as well as dismiss Special Master Dearie’s politically charged demand about Trump’s accusations against the Department of Justice, will not sit will with Democrats who want to run against Donald Trump in the 2022 midterms instead of run on the Biden administration’s disastrous policies.