Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Special Master

 Everything I'm hearing from legal sources that I trust has this to say about the appointment of a Special Master in the seizure of classified documents:

- It is, at best, just a delay in proceedings
- It is a terrible decision unbound by precedent or common sense.
- It is an example of how corrupted the judiciary is becoming.

Special Masters are supposed to be neutral lawyers who assess whether evidence is covered by attorney-client privilege. None of the documents fall under attorney-client privilege. The judge seems to suggest that the Special Master assess whether the documents are covered by Executive Privilege, except Trump does not get to claim Executive Privilege as a former president. 

Ultimately, the most important decision in the short term is WHO gets appointed Special Master. If it's another Trumpist legal figure, we will have a true case of corruption on our hands. If it's an impartial legal figure, frankly the matter should be resolved in a few days, because it's all bullshit.

The precedent that this could establish would wreck criminal law and/or establish that ex-presidents are above the law.  Awful as an idea, hopefully just a nuisance in practice.

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