The United States government and the legal team of former President Trump have both submitted their preferred candidates to serve as an independent special master to review the records seized by the FBI during its unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago last month but the two sides disagree on the scope of duties that person would have.
The Justice Department submitted the names of two retired judges on Friday. The first judge, Barbara Jones, served on the federal bench in Manhattan and served as special master in high profile cases involving Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen. The second, Thomas Griffith, is a former federal appeals court jurist in the District of Columbia.
The Trump team proposed one retired judge, Raymond Dearie — also the former top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York — and a prominent Florida lawyer, Paul Huck, Jr.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had given both sides until Friday to submit potential candidates for the role of a special master, as well as proposals for the scope of the person’s duties and the schedule for his or her work.