DOJ appoints RVC native as special master

Raymond J. Dearie will oversee Mar-a-Lago documents

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Judge Raymond J. Dearie, a Rockville Centre native, has been appointed by the Justice Department to fill the role of special master in charge of reviewing sensitive documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Dearie, a U.S. District Court Judge who presides over the Federal courts in Brooklyn, was selected by Trump’s lawyers to fill the role as the independent third-party tasked with the case.

According to the Eastern District Court of New York website, Dearie was born in Rockville Centre in 1944 and received his law degree from St. John’s University in 1969.

After having spent three years in private practice, he worked as an attorney with the federal courts in the appeals, general crimes, and criminal divisions until 1977, when he went to work for the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Dearie was nominated in 1986 by then-President Ronald Reagan and would serve as a judge with the U.S. District Court until 2011, after which he was given senior status on the circuit.

He would then serve on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a 7-year-term, where he would approve requests made by federal investigators seeking surveillance warrants.

During his time on the court, he approved warrants to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump adviser, over alleged ties with Russia and interference in the 2016 election. Two of the four surveillance warrants granted by the courts were later declared invalid by the Inspector General, who found a series of mistakes in the FBI submitted documents to the court.

The remaining candidates proposed by attorneys with Trump’s camp would not meet the approval of the DOJ, who suggested Barbara S. Jones and Thomas Griffith for their judicial experience.

Presently, Dearie is the only candidate both parties have agreed to serve in this role.