The decision to install Dearie — a 78-year-old New Yorker and semi-retired judge from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York — came in response to Trump’s request for an independent ombudsman to determine what, if any, materials authorities are recovering protected by attorney-client or executor privilege. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the Trump documents case, granted Trump’s request for a special master and ordered both his legal team and the Justice Department to provide a list of candidates for the position. Dearie was the only person both sides agreed on. The longtime judge is now tasked with reviewing more than 11,000 documents seized by the FBI through Nov. 30. Here are five things you should know about Dearie. Dearie is a former Reagan running mate Dearie received a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 1966 before earning his J.D. from the University of St. Louis School of Law. John’s in 1969. After working in private practice for two years, Dearie moved to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in 1971. Starting as an assistant U.S. attorney, the New Yorker worked his way up the ladder in the Manhattan office, leading the Appellate Division, General Crimes Division and Criminal Division before assuming the role of Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1980 and, in 1982, Attorney for USA. for the Eastern District of New York. In 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan appointed Dearie to serve on the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Dearie became chief judge of the circuit court in 2007, a position he held until 2011, when he was promoted to senior clerk and given a reduced caseload. Dearie decided to go inactive in August, but one of his staff members told NPR it’s unclear when the change will take effect. The inactive status does not allow for official retirement, according to the report, and Dearie can return to the court if necessary. “I’m going to miss him,” he told the New York Law Journal in August. He served on the FISA court that ruled on the Carter Page case Supreme Court Justice John Roberts appointed Deary to serve on the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2012, where he remained until 2019. The FISA court, as it is often referred to, reviews applications from the US government seeking warrants for electronic surveillance, physical searches and other investigative efforts related to foreign intelligence. Dearie was serving as a FISA judge in October 2016 when the court authorized a wiretap on Carter Page, who previously served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign. The Justice Department requested the surveillance on the belief that Page was acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Russia. His supervision was renewed three times. The wiretapping was part of the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, which looked into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The investigation has been a frequent target of criticism from Trump and his Republican allies. In December 2019, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a report that said the FBI had grounds to launch the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, but outlined issues with how the investigative agency handled requests for interception of the Page. The Department of Justice says Dearie has “substantial judicial experience” but raises potential concern Dearie was the only person both Trump’s legal team and the Justice Department agreed to serve as a special master in the Trump documents case. Trump’s team initially proposed him as a candidate, and the department said it was open to the option. In a filing Monday, the department said Dearie, in addition to its two nominees, “each has significant judicial experience, presiding over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving matters of national security and privilege ». The Justice Department, however, expressed a potential concern about Dearie serving as a special master. There are limits on how much outside work federal judges are allowed to engage in, as well as the compensation they can receive. For senior judges, however, those restrictions are less, according to Bloomberg. “It is the government’s understanding that Judge Dearie currently remains on ‘senior active’ status,” the Justice Department wrote in its filing. “If this Court were to select Judge Dearie as special master, the government would leave it to the Court and Judge Dearie to determine whether the role of special master would constitute outside employment and what rules and/or limitations, if any, would apply to it . serving in that capacity.” Judge Cannon did not address this concern in her testimony announcing Dearie’s appointment as special master. The Mob, Al Qaeda and the Duchess of York Diery presided over many cases during his 36-year tenure at the federal bench, including matters related to the mob, al-Qaeda and the Duchess of York. The judge handled a number of mob-related cases when he was U.S. attorney in the 1980s. At the time, the Brooklyn court was devastated against mobsters, gang leaders and people who committed financial crimes, according to the Washington Post. But in 2009 and 2010, Dearie’s focus turned to al-Qaeda: the then-chief US district judge presided over the case involving Najibullah Zazi, a legal permanent US resident from Afghanistan who pleaded guilty to providing material support to Al Qaeda. And in 1996, Dearie was at the helm of a trial involving the Duchess of York, who lost a necklace and matching bracelet worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The jewel was a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth II. Investigators eventually identified Gilbert Terrero, who was a baggage handler at Kennedy International Airport in New York, as the person behind the case. Authorities arrested Terrero, then 19, and recovered most of the jewelry. She confessed to stealing the necklace and bracelet from a bag at the airport. Dieri sentenced Terrero to four years in prison, according to the New York Times. Reform of federal sentencing laws has previously been called for Dearie made headlines in 2016 when he called for reform of federal sentencing laws. Speaking at an event sponsored by the New York Bar Association, the longtime senior judge at the time said: “I have to admit that at times I wanted to scream with frustration, sadness and anger when I was asked to impose mandatory penalty or prevent you from doing the reasonable thing,” according to the New York Law Journal. “Let’s stop messing with this system of ours and collectively demand in the name of decency, meaningful change, smart change,” he added. New York mayor: GOP governors cover up ‘erosion of basic human rights’ amid immigration crisis World Bank president calls Europe’s energy problem ‘enormous’, says US must increase output The judge argued that most offenders “are not evil incarnate,” but commit crimes out of “weakness, need, sometimes desperation,” according to the New York Times. “So many defendants I see are without school, skills, hope or direction, and no amount of years in prison is going to change that,” he said. “Why this love in this country with long imprisonment, to our great shame as a civilized nation?” he added.
