- The independent arbiter – or special master – tasked with inspecting documents seized in an FBI search of former President Trump’s Florida home signaled Tuesday he intends to push briskly though the review process.
- The arbiter, Raymond Dearie, a veteran Brooklyn judge, also appeared skeptical of the Trump team’s reluctance to say whether it believed the records had been declassified.
- “We’re going to proceed with what I call responsible dispatch,” Dearie told lawyers for Trump and Justice lawyers in their first meeting since his appointment last week as special master.
- Purpose of meeting was to sort out review process that’s expected to slow by weeks maybe months, the criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left White House.
- As special master, Dearie will sort through thousands of documents recovered during the Aug. 8 search separating those protected by claims of executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.
