Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who was appointed the special master for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, told Bloomberg “it is not going to be so easy” finding a person to see if the removed materials are protected by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege following District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling on Monday.
Due to the nature of the case, the Department of Justice requested if someone was to be appointed special master—a move the government agency argued was not necessary—the special master must have the security clearance required to review the top secret and classified documents seized from Trump’s Florida home.
“It is not going to be so easy—finding someone qualified, willing to take the heat, and also not adversely concerned about Justice Department opposition, Feinberg said.
Feinberg added that potential candidates for the special master role may be put off by the idea of “bucking the Department of Justice” by taking on a role the agency said was not required in the investigation.
Feinberg, who also acted as special master for TARP Executive Compensation in the wake of the 2008 market crash, gave a warning to anyone who is willing to accept the role of reviewing the documents removed from Mar-a-Lago in August.
“Better brace yourself,” Feinberg, adding that some may reject the role over fears of backlash from Trump and his loyal supporters.
While a legal background is not necessary to serve as a special master, most special masters are attorneys, former judges or some sort of expert in law and must be politically neutral—which may be hard to find in a case surrounding the former president. Finding such a qualified candidate with the necessary security clearance only makes the job of appointing a suitable special master even harder.
Ted Bandstra, a former chief magistrate judge for the Southern District of Florida, said that other former magistrate judges may be strong candidates for the special master role as they will have the necessary security clearance, and have more chance of being neutral as they are not appointed by presidents.
However, Bandstra told Bloomberg that he would not be interested in the role, citing concerns over the intense scrutiny from Trump and his supporters that would follow the special master in the case.
“On the one hand it’s fascinating and an important thing to do [but] it wouldn’t be something I’d volunteer for,” Bandstra said.
Cannon gave the Department of Justice and Trump’s legal team until September 9 to come up with a list of potential candidates for the special master. If a candidate cannot be agreed upon by both parties, the decision will be made by Cannon herself.
As noted by Mathew Miller, lawyer and former Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Justice Department: “So all Judge Cannon has to do now is find a special master who: a. is an expert in one of the more contested, unexplored areas of the law; b. already has a Top Secret clearance; c. isn’t seen as tainted through service in a recent administration. Goood luck.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
