Former President Donald Trump explained to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night why his team chose Judge Raymond Dearie to be the special master in the Mar-A-Lago case despite Dearie’s previous role in approving surveillance on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“Why did you approve of the special master that signed one of the FISA warrants?” Hannity asked Trump. “That was surprising.” (RELATED: Inventory Of Trump Mar-A-Lago FBI Raid Released)
“Well, the lawyers had a lot of — I didn’t know any of the people involved. But, you know, if you look at it, he was stung badly by that because the FBI lied to him, the people, and the people of the Justice Department lied to him. So if you think about it, yes, he approved it and he got stung very, very badly by that,” Trump said. “So, you know, we will see what happens. He’s a respected man.”
Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida appointed Dearie as special master on Sept. 16 after Trump’s legal team suggested him a week earlier. The Department of Justice said at the time that it would not object to the appointment.
Some reports noted that Dearie was an odd choice for Trump, given that Dearie had approved a DOJ request to surveil Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page while serving on the FISA court. One of the FISA warrants approved by Dearie was later declared invalid because of the numerous errors the FBI committed throughout the process.
Dearie has until Nov. 30 to complete his review and file a report with the court, which will then decide whether the DOJ should return certain materials as Trump requested.