Judge appoints special master, denying DOJ access to classified records

A federal judge on Thursday denied the Justice Department’s motion to access the classified records stored at Mar-a-Lago and installed a recently retired judge to serve as the special master former President Trump requested.

The duo of orders from federal district Judge Aileen Cannon will ignite a Department of Justice (DOJ) appeal to the 11th Circuit and also selects Judge Raymond Dearie to serve as the special master — the one candidate both the DOJ and Trump’s legal team could agree on.

The order requires Dearie to complete his review by Nov. 30 — a slightly shorter deadline than the 90-day window Trump requested, but one that punts the determination past the midterms. In a rare instance of siding with the DOJ, Cannon required Trump to pay for the full cost associated with a special master.

Cannon’s decision came after the DOJ asked for a partial stay of the judge’s motion, arguing they should be able to review the more than 100 classified documents taken during the search as Trump could have no possible claim to the records as either personal property or under executive privilege.