Trump’s Hope To Be Saved By A Special Master Got Off To A Beyond Rocky Start, And People Are Here For It

Since the FBI searched the resort in which now lives, emerging with highly classified documents he almost certainly never should have taken, Donald Trump has tried everything to save himself from potential peril. He’s whined about it. He’s claimed he did nothing wrong. He’s railed against the feds for, uh, not taking off their shoes. He’s also done one of his favorite tricks: try to gum up the works with frivolous legal tricks. But his latest ploy may have blown up in his face.

As per The New York Times, the former president’s attorneys met with the special master a Florida Trump judge, Aileen M. Cannon, okayed to review the seized material, to judge whether they were classified or not. It did not go well. During their first hearing, Judge Raymond J. Dearie cut through the usual tangled Trump nonsense, demanding the attorneys offer proof that the documents their client took with him to Mar-a-Lago were indeed declassified. They refused to say he had. Instead, they suggested they might do so later, claiming they didn’t want to give away their legal strategy.

Dearie said he was open to that, but he also expressed frustration with Trump’s legal team casting doubt on the classification of said documents without offering any proof. “My view is, you can’t have your cake and eat it too,” Dearie told them.

At one point, Dearie wondered why they were even having the hearings and, indeed, why he was even there. He pointed out that the government is saying the documents are classified while all Trump’s lawyers are doing is saying they aren’t but not offering any proof.

”What am I looking for?” Dearie asked them. “As far as I am concerned, that’s the end of it.” He added, “What business is it of the court?”

The hearings are already strange to begin with. For one thing, despite the case being based out of Florida, the hearings took place in Brooklyn, where Dearie, a veteran of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, is based.

At issue are the 11,000 documents taken by federal agents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, 100 of which bear markings that suggest they are among the nation’s most closely guarded secrets. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that he declassified them.

The disastrous first hearing prompted much rejoicing online, with some pointing out that Trump’s lawyers didn’t bring up some of their client’s claims, possibly because they know that lying would cost them their law licenses — a fate that’s befallen other Trump attorneys.

Some were worried for whoever recommended Dearie to Trump.

If TrumpWorld goes after Dearie, that would be odd as he’s a Reagan appointee.

Others marveled at Dearie’s pur Brooklyn attitude.

Others praised Dearie for reminding everyone that, yes, laws really do exist and should be followed.

And there were jokes.

This could still end up with a modest Trump win. It wouldn’t be the first time he escaped his presumed-to-be certain fate. But Dearie’s tetchy treatment of his lawyers does not bode well for him.

(Via NYT)