By Andrew C. McCarthy
September 6, 2022 9:13 AM
I had a column on Monday analyzing Judge Aileen Cannon’s order, earlier in the day, granting former president Trump’s petition for a special master to review materials the government seized from Mar-a-Lago last month pursuant to a search warrant. That analysis focuses on what I believe is the main issue raised by Judge Cannon’s decision: the possibility that Trump, as a former president, retains not only some measure of executive privilege but also the authority to invoke that privilege against the executive branch of the incumbent administration.
In this post, I want to focus on a couple of other aspects of the Florida federal district judge’s ruling that, like the executive-privilege issues, will be front and center if (and almost certainly when) the Justice Department appeals.
Proceeding by Separate Civil Action
I doubt there will be much squawking over Trump’s gambit in filing a separate civil lawsuit rather than simply moving for a special-master appointment before the magistrate judge (Bruce Reinhart) who issued the warrant. By this maneuver, Trump’s got the question in front of a Trump-appointed district judge rather than Reinhart, whom he colorably claims is biased against him. (I am not saying there was any lack of basis for Reinhart to issue the warrant; I am merely noting that Reinhart had previously recused himself from a Trump lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.) Judge Cannon dismisses any concerns about Trump’s suit in a footnote (p.7, n.7), citing authority that permits a party to proceed by a civil action prior to any indictment.
more
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/unpacking-judge-cannons-order-for-a-special-master-in-trump-search/
