Federal District Judge Aileen M. Cannon has ruled in favor of Donald Trump. She granted the former president’s petition to appoint a special master regarding the search of his home at Mar-a-Lago. Liberty Nation has republished the order in full here.
Key takeaways from the judge’s order are that a special master will be appointed to review the property seized from Mar-a-Lago. They will do so to manage assertions of privilege and make recommendations to the judge regarding their application to particular items seized. The master is to assess the property against two types of privileges that may be asserted – attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. Cannon’s order forbids the DOJ lawyers from continuing to review any of the items they took from Mar-A-Lago for criminal investigative purposes for now. But government officials may review the materials for purposes of intelligence classification and assessment.
The judge gave lawyers for both Trump and the DOJ until the end of the week to produce a list of proposed candidates for the job of a special master. And to submit a proposed order which would guide their work – in detail. She reserved ruling on whether Trump will get some of his stuff back and when for further review.
(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Judge Cannon was appointed to her position on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by President Trump in November of 2020. The search warrant for Mar-a-Lago was signed by a Magistrate Judge, Bruce Reinhart, of the same district. Magistrate judges are lower-level federal judges, who the president does not appoint, and do not serve for life terms. They have limited powers and may sign search warrants, but may not, for instance, impose felony sentences.
Just six weeks before he signed the Mar-a-Lago warrant, Reinhart recused himself from Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats in the Russia collusion hoax. The magistrate cited regulations concerning impartiality. He posted at least one message to social media insulting then-president-elect Trump. Magistrate judge Reinhart has also made news regarding his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. He was a previous employee of the South Florida US Attorney’s Office, resigned on New Year’s Day 2008, then became the lawyer for several Epstein lieutenants the following day.
