Donald Trump’s appeal for the appointment of a special master to review the seized documents from Mar-a-Lago was granted recently. US District Court Judge Raymond Dearie has been appointed as the special master to review the documents, however, he has already called for reinforcements.
The special master has said in a court filing on Thursday, September 22, that he would not be charging additional compensation for being a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago documents. However, the judge has requested to be allowed to appoint an assistant, an ex-magistrate, James Orenstein, to evaluate the 11,000 documents the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
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The judge has been given a time limit of until November 30 to finish evaluating the documents. In his Thursday court filing, Dearie has recommended Orenstein be paid $500 per hour. However, it will be former US President Donald Trump who will be making the payment.
As per the court filing, the billings will be addressed to Donald Trump, beginning on October 1. Apart from this, Trump will be provided with an account of total working hours and expenses that are to be reimbursed.
Trump’s legal team will have a week to check the mentioned amount, working hours and other information. They will also have an additional week to pay the sum in full.
“Failure to make timely payment will be deemed a violation of the Special Master’s order subject to sanction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure,” the filing read.
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Trump’s attorneys have asked Dearie to not turn over information regarding the declassification status of documents found in his Mar-a-Lago residence, arguing that it would compromise his defense against future indictments. Trump also claimed in September that he had the power of declassifying documents just by thinking of doing so.
The newly appointed special master, Dearie, has asked Trump’s legal team to prove his claim that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had planted evidence in his Florida home, which was seized in their subsequent raid.
