China News Agency, Washington, September 15 (Reporter Chen Mengtong) A U.S. District Court judge appointed retired Judge Raymond Dearie on the 15th as an independent commissioner to review the FBI's investigation of the former President Trump's residence. Documents seized at Lake Manor.
File photo: Trump.
Deerey served as a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York from 1982 to 1986 and was appointed a federal judge by then-President Ronald Reagan until his retirement in 2011.
He also served as a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for seven years.
The court authorized the Justice Department to use wiretapping devices in foreign intelligence investigations.
On Aug. 8, FBI investigators executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the information released by the Ministry of Justice since then, there are more than 11,000 government documents and photos in the seized items, of which more than 100 are classified as classified, 54 as "secret", 31 as "confidential", and 18 as the highest level "Top Secret".
Deere will review all documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, said Judge Erin Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, who is hearing the case.
Cannon wrote in an order issued on the same day that she is not prepared to blindly accept the government's description of the documents, the prosecution and defense "dispute the appropriate title of the seized material" and "these determinations will have different legal implications."
The Justice Department has yet to comment on the appointment.
However, the Justice Department last week voiced its opposition to the appointment of an independent commissioner and filed a motion to appeal.
If the decree appointing the independent commissioner is not withdrawn, it will appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, the Justice Department said.
A major focus of the case now is whether Trump still has the right to assert executive privilege over seized documents.
The U.S. Justice Department believes that Trump no longer has this authority, and that involving the independent commissioner will slow down the investigation process and further jeopardize national security secrets.
Trump, on the other hand, has denied wrongdoing, accused the Justice Department of a political "witch hunt" and said some of the material in the seized items was protected by attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.
According to Cannon's order, Deerey's deadline to complete his review is Nov. 23, and he will first review documents marked classified "and then consider making necessary swift adjustments to the court order."
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