- Trump’s special master, who was looking at Mar-a-Lago records, asked Trump’s staff for evidence that the FBI planted evidence in his home.
- Trump has claimed repeatedly and publicly that the FBI illegally placed evidence in Mar-a-Lago.
- Dearie isn’t the only one who has asked Trump’s team for their money.
After reviewing records seized from Mar-a-Lago, the outside arbiter asked Donald Trump’s legal team to confirm whether they believe that the FBI planted evidence in Trump’s Florida residence.
Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed as special master in March. He is responsible for sorting through the thousands seized from Mar-a-Lago, and removing any that might be protected by executive or attorney-client confidentiality.
In a court filing, he stated that Trump’s legal staff must submit, by Sept. 30, a declaration/affidavit containing “a list” of “any specific items set forth” by the FBI in its inventory of Mar-a-Lago items. He also said that Trump had not “asserts been seized from Premises in August 8, 2022.”
The former president claimed that the FBI had planted evidence in executing a Mar-a-Lago warrant last month.
“Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be alone,” he wrote on Truth Social on August 10, “without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, ‘planting.'”
Thursday was not Dearie’s first occasion of asking Trump’s lawyers for their support and money. Dearie’s statements are all the more remarkable because Trump’s lawyers had pushed for a special master and Dearie was on the list they submitted.
After Trump’s team refused to show evidence that Trump had declassified all documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, the special master called them “have your cake and eat” at a Tuesday hearing.
Dearie had asked the lawyers of the former president to confirm that the records were classified prior to the hearing. Trump’s team refused to comply with the request. However, they claimed that Trump would have to “fully and specific disclose a defense” if he was indicted.
But Dearie That argument was not accepted by the audience.He said that he would stand with the feds if the attorneys for the former president didn’t give evidence of declassification.
“As far I’m concerned that’s all it is,” he stated. Later, he added, “You can’t have it all.”
Dearie also referred in Thursday’s court file to the Justice Department’s revelations that an FBI filter group had initially reviewed Mar-a-Lago records. It determined that approximately 500 pages could have attorney-client privilege.
Dearie noted that Trump’s team had received the initial set of documents from the government and ordered Trump’s attorneys to decide, by September 26, which items they wish to claim privilege over. He gave the ex-president’s team until October 14th to file all privilege claims.
