Special Master Skeptical of Team Trump’s Privilege Claims: ‘Where’s the Beef?’
‘WHERE’S THE BEEF?’
The Honorable Judge Raymond Dearie wants the beef. The special master appointed to review documents seized by federal agents from Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Dearie on Tuesday expressed skepticism that the former president’s claims that the records had been protected by privilege were legitimate. Dearie asked for more details from Trump’s legal team on the claims in a half-hour phone conference, expressing frustration with the lack of information he’s received from both the defense and the Justice Department during an ongoing legal battle into what materials can be used in the latter’s criminal inquiry. “It’s a little perplexing as I go through the log,” Dearie said, according to The New York Times. “What’s the expression—‘Where’s the beef?’ I need some beef.” He also raised the possibility of a logical “incongruity” to Trump’s lawyers’ arguments, such as in the case of one document they claimed was both privileged and his personal property. Dearie also clarified that the pages of the 11,000 non-classified documents under his purview numbered only 21,792, and not the 200,000 originally estimated.