Justice Department open to one of Trump’s picks to review secret docs seized from Mar-a-Lago

The Justice Department on Monday said it would back a Brooklyn federal court judge as a special master to review documents seized by the FBI at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Judge Raymond Dearie, who serves the Eastern District of New York, was one of Trump’s proposed candidates for the job.

Also named as contenders in the federal court filing were Barbara Jones, a former district judge in New York and Thomas Griffith, a former appeals court judge in Washington, D.C.

The DOJ said the three picks “each have substantial judicial experience, during which they have presided over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving national security and privilege concerns.”

The government passed on Paul Huck Jr., who previously served as general counsel to the governor of Florida and deputy attorney general for the state as he “does not appear to have similar experience.”

In the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of Tump’s home, it said it recovered more than 100 classified documents. Trump called the raid “illegal and unconstitutional.”

Last week, a judge granted Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review the removed documents earlier this week, a ruling which the DOJ has since appealed.