Special master chosen to review Trump documents

A federal judge in Florida appointed a colleague in New York on Thursday to serve as a special master in the Justice Department’s investigation of former president Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie will review documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The FBI raided the former president’s residence in August, looking for evidence of mishandled presidential records, including classified documents. After pitching multiple potential candidates, Trump’s team and the Department of Justice agreed on Dearie’s ability to conduct the role impartially.

Who is Raymond Dearie? The 78-year-old former federal prosecutor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 to serve as a judge for New York’s Eastern District. He received senior status in 2011 and took a reduced caseload. He served on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Dearie has until Nov. 30 to assess the contents of the recovered documents. On Friday, the Justice Department appealed a judge’s order barring investigators from further review of the documents until the special master finishes his work.

Dig deeper: Read my report with Carolina Lumetta on the raid on Mar-a-Lago and why the FBI requested a warrant for its search.