So far I’ve noticed three distinct conflicts of interest and one major shortcoming that should exclude Paul Huck, Jr from serving as a special master in this case… If Judge Cannon chooses him the fix is in!
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.
I find it highly unlikely that Mr. Huck has the requisite security clearances to view classified state secrets…
Heavy.com
Barbara Lagoa, the federal judge who is on President Donald Trump’s short list to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, is married to Paul Huck Jr., an attorney who is the son of a federal judge.
Lagoa was one of two women Trump touted after Ginsburg’s death as a possible replacement; the other is federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Lagoa’s husband, Huck Jr., has close ties to the conservative Federalist Society and is a partner at a law firm that has represented President Donald Trump’s campaign, according to The Washington Post.
(snip)
Huck Jr. is the “godfather of the Federalist Society in Miami,” said José Félix Díaz, a former state legislator, to The Washington Post. The Federalist Society is a prominent conservative group of lawyers. He’s listed on the Federalist Society’s website.
His wife also happens to preside on the court that would rule on the DOJ’s appeal…
Wikipedia
Barbara Lagoa (born November 2, 1967)[1] is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Mr. Huck’s former law firm, Jones Day, once represented Trump’s presidential campaign...
Reuters
Trump's team proposed Raymond Dearie, a judge on senior status in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and former U.S. Attorney who served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and Paul Huck, Florida's former Deputy Attorney General and a former partner with Jones Day, a law firm that previously represented Trump's campaign.
Back to the Joint Filing... #FPOTUS thinks the special master should be given carte blanche.
Plaintiff’s position is that the Special Master should review all Seized Materials, including documents with classification markings. Plaintiff also contends that the Special Master should examine the documents to evaluate potential Executive Privilege claims. The Plaintiff does not believe that the Special Master should, or needs to, consult with the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”). To the extent that the Special Master determines such a need, the Plaintiff would suggest that the parties be heard by the Special Master, and possibly this Court, before that step is undertaken.
The Government’s position is that the Special Master should not review documents with classification markings; should not adjudicate claims of Executive Privilege (but should submit to NARA any documents over which such claims are made); and should consult with NARA on the determination of Presidential records. The parties generally agree on the categories of documents into which the materials to be reviewed by the Special Master should be allocated.
True to form, #FPOTUS wants to go dutch on the cost of this escapade...
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.
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.
The parties also disagree on the timeline…
The Government sets a deadline of October 17, 2022, within which to complete the review process. Plaintiff suggests that 90 days likely will be required given the volume of documents, but ultimately defers to the Court and to the selected Special Master.
The joint filing was submitted with two contrasting attachments…
Exhibit A is in the form of a proposed order giving #FPOTUS exactly what he wants with a space for Judge Cannon to sign it, while Exhibit B is the government response to Monday’s order signed by all the attorneys that worked on it...
Judge Aileen Cannon ordered this filing be submitted by today in her batshit ruling from Monday which has had legal scholars scratching their heads all week…
The Guardian
The US justice department and the legal team of Donald Trump were due on Friday to jointly file a list of possible candidates to serve as a “special master” to review the records seized by the FBI from the former president’s home.
(snip)
On Thursday the department asked Cannon to suspend two main parts of her order: it said it wants to be able to continue reviewing the seized classified materials for its continuing investigation, and it wants to protect them from disclosure to a special master.
It also warned that some classified materials may still be missing, even after an 8 August search of Mar-a-Lago, by the FBI.
(snip)
Cannon’s order has been criticized by Democratic and Republican legal experts. Attorneys have questioned the logic of her decision to include an executive privilege review, because the records are not Trump’s personal property and he is no longer president.
The flabbergast will likely continue...
CNN
The Justice Department and former President Donald Trump's lawyers face a Friday midnight deadline for submitting proposals for how the special master review of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago -- including classified documents -- should work.
They'll be filing the briefs even as the Justice Department appeals the order requiring the review, in which a third-party attorney will sift through the materials from Trump's Florida home and segregate out the privileged documents that should be withheld from federal investigators.
While the appeal plays out, prosecutors are also asking that its review of classified documents be allowed to continue separate from the special master review. The parties have been instructed by US District Judge Aileen Cannon to weigh in on the department's arguments about the documents in the filing due Friday.
With the Friday submission, the Justice Department and the Trump team will also be addressing questions about the review's logistics that are wonky, but stand to carry significance over how quickly the review will move and how much it will hinder the criminal investigation into the handling of documents from Trump's White House.
Yesterday, DOJ attorneys filed a request for a partial stay of the ruling pending appeal...
Slate
...[T]his appeal and request for an injunction is not only legally and practically correct, it is also shrewd. That is because it puts the onus on the judge to justify her decision not as to an amorphous and unseen group of 11,000 documents—some of which DOJ has acknowledged Trump may have some proprietary interest in—but as to over 100 highly dangerous classified ones. Even if she fails to do the right thing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit hopefully will. (The government has filed a notice of interlocutory appeal with the 11th Circuit and while we do not know exactly what it will do there, presumably it will seek the same limited stay.)
Another advantage of this strategy is that it allows the inevitable delay to be minimized. On this approach, the appointment of the special master and review of the vast majority of the documents can begin. At the same time, the most legally odious and dangerous aspects of the court’s order can be immediately challenged and hopefully quickly overturned
The wisdom of this approach is that it also gives the court a way out. It can enter the stay, avoiding the embarrassment of the appellate court possibly doing so. It also simplifies the appointment and selection of a special master. If the classified documents are not included, and the special master does not need to have any security clearances to be selected, the person can begin work now.
You can find my full break down of the yesterday’s DOJ motion here.
As one might expect, #FPOTUS lost his fucking mind...
Newsweek
Donald Trump is fuming as the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to block an independent arbiter from overseeing documents seized from his residence, deriding the government's move as a massive waste of time and money.
The former president on Thursday lashed out in a post to his Truth Social network after the DOJ signaled it would appeal a judge's approval of a special master that has said it will slow its investigation of Trump's alleged hoarding of classified documents. The appeal is the latest in the legal wrangling following the FBI's court-approved search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in August.
"So now the FBI & Biden Department of 'Justice' leakers are going to spend Millions of Dollars, & vast amounts of Time & Energy, to appeal the Order on the 'Raid of Mar-a-Lago Document Hoax,' by a brilliant and courageous Judge whose words of wisdom rang true throughout our Nation, instead of fighting the record setting corruption and crime that is taking place right before their very eyes," Trump said in the post.
In a follow-up post, Trump rehashed his long-running grievances with federal law enforcement agencies, accusing them of leaking information, lying and planting "fake evidence."
Every day is Festivus with this asshole...
Newsweek
Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who was appointed the special master for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, told Bloomberg "it is not going to be so easy" finding a person to see if the removed materials are protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege following District Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling on Monday.
Due to the nature of the case, the Department of Justice requested if someone was to be appointed special master—a move the government agency argued was not necessary—the special master must have the security clearance required to review the top secret and classified documents seized from Trump's Florida home.
"It is not going to be so easy—finding someone qualified, willing to take the heat, and also not adversely concerned about Justice Department opposition, Feinberg said.
Feinberg added that potential candidates for the special master role may be put off by the idea of "bucking the Department of Justice" by taking on a role the agency said was not required in the investigation.
Team #FPOTUS has until Monday to formally respond to the DOJ’s request for a partial stay...