The BulleTin • Wednesday, sepTemBer 21, 2022 A13
Review of Trump documents
to move quickly, arbiter says
BY ERIC TUCKER AND MICHAEL R.
SISAK
associated press
The independent arbiter inspect-
ing documents seized in an FBI
search of former President Donald
Trump’s Florida home said Tuesday
he intends to push briskly through
the review process and appeared
skeptical of the Trump team’s reluc-
tance to say whether it believed the
records had been declassified.
“We’re going to proceed with
what I call responsible dispatch,”
Raymond Dearie, a veteran Brook-
lyn judge, told lawyers for Trump
and the Justice Department in their
first meeting since his appointment
last week as a so-called special mas-
ter.
The purpose of the meeting was
to sort out next steps in a review
process expected to slow by weeks,
if not months, the criminal investi-
gation into the retention of top-se-
cret information at Mar-a-Lago after
Trump left the White House. As spe-
cial master, Dearie will be responsi-
ble for sifting through the thousands
of documents recovered during the
Aug. 8 FBI search and segregat-
ing any that might be protected by
claims of executive privilege or attor-
ney-client privilege.
Though Trump’s lawyers had re-
quested the appointment of a special
master to ensure an independent
review of the documents, they have
resisted Dearie’s request for more
information about whether the
seized records had been previously
declassified — as Trump has main-
tained. His lawyers have consistently
stopped short of that claim even
as they asserted in a separate filing
Tuesday that the Justice Department
had not proven that the documents
were classified. In any event, they
say, a president has absolute author-
ity to declassify information.
“In the case of someone who has
been president of the United States,
they have unfettered access along
with unfettered declassification au-
thority,” one of Trump’s lawyers,
James Trusty, said in court Tuesday.
But Dearie said that if Trump’s
lawyers will not actually assert that
the records have been declassified,
and the Justice Department instead
makes an acceptable case that they
remain classified, then he would be
inclined to regard them as classified.
Brittainy newman/ap
Protesters stand outside as former President Donald Trump’s lawyers enter Brook-
lyn Federal Court on Tuesday in New York. Lawyers for Trump and for the Justice
Department appeared in federal court in Brooklyn before a veteran judge named
last week as special master to review the roughly 11,000 documents taken during
the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.
Donald Trump’s
attorneys Evan
Corcoran and
James Trusty walk
past media at
Brooklyn Federal
Court on Tuesday,
in New York.
Brittainy newman/ap
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said,
“that’s the end of it.”
In a letter to Dearie on Monday
night, the lawyers said the declassifi-
cation issue might be part of Trump’s
defense in the event of an indict-
ment. And Trusty said in court Tues-
day that the Trump team should not
be forced at this point in the inves-
tigation to disclose details of a pos-
sible defense based on the idea the
records had been declassified.
He denied that the lawyers were
trying to engage in “gamesman-like”
behavior but instead said it was a
process that required “baby steps.”
He said the right time for the discus-
sion is whenever Trump presses for-
ward with a claim to get any seized
property back.
Dearie said he understood the po-
sition but observed, “I guess my view
of it is, you can’t have your cake and
eat it” too.
The resistance to the judge’s re-
quest was notable because it was
Trump’s lawyers, not the Justice De-
partment, who had requested the
appointment of a special master and
because the recalcitrance included
an acknowledgment that the probe
could be building toward an indict-
ment.
Despite the focus on whether the
seized documents are classified or
not, the three statutes the Justice De-
partment listed on a warrant as part
of its investigation do not require
that the mishandled information be
classified in order for prosecutors to
initiate a criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Can-
non, a Trump appointee who
granted the Trump team’s request
for a special master, had set a Nov.
30 deadline for Dearie’s review and
instructed him to prioritize the
tranche of classified records.
Council
Continued from A1
People with concealed carry per-
mits could potentially be exempt
from a city ordinance banning the
possession of a loaded firearm, said
Ian Leitheiser, assistant city attorney
for Bend. With over 17,000 concealed
carry permits in Deschutes County,
according to Oregon State Police, the
impact of such ordinances is unclear.
Kebler said she was unsure if any
of these regulatory efforts would pre-
vent a shooting like the one Aug. 28,
when a gunman killed two people at
the grocery store before taking his
own life.
“We’re all struggling in our own
ways with it. You can feel anger. You
can feel despair,” Kebler said at a Sept.
7 City Council meeting.
While Kebler said she has been ad-
vocating for stricter gun control for
years, she said she does not know if
council action would have occurred
without the Safeway shooting.
“It increased our momentum,”
Kebler told The Bulletin, adding:
“I want to make sure as a city we’re
looking at all of our options.”
Campbell said she is frustrated
with the impacts of gun violence on
everyday activities and the lack of
challenges to the Second Amend-
ment.
“Our First Amendment rights have
become under threat because of our
Second Amendment rights,” Camp-
bell said. “Our freedom to move
about is being taken away from us.”
Possible points of discussion for
Wednesday’s meeting include the
potential city policy action, council-
wide support for ballot Measure 114,
called the Reduction of Gun Violence
Act, and education efforts for red flag
laws.
Red flag laws allow family mem-
bers, roommates or law enforcement
officials to petition a judge to remove
firearms from someone’s possession
if the person is believed to be an ex-
treme risk.
Oregon is one of 21 states that re-
quires background checks or permits
for handgun purchases. Measure 114
would extend this requirement fur-
ther and mandate purchasers to pass
a gun safety training class and a live-
fire training session. The measure
would also outlaw the manufacture,
purchase and use of magazines con-
taining more than 10 rounds.
Obtaining a permit would require
criminal background checks, which
would close a loophole in current
state law that allows the sale of the
firearm if the background check is
not completed within three days.
Permits would have a fee and would
be valid for five years. If the measure
passes, the penalty for a violation
would be a Class A misdemeanor or
a Class C felony if one has prior con-
victions.
If passed, Measure 114 would cost
local governments up to $51.2 mil-
lion in the first year and up to $47.5
million in subsequent years to get the
permit-to-purchase process up and
running, according to a draft state
estimate from July. Expenditures on
the state level would increase up to
$21.1 million during the 2023-2025
biennium. Estimated revenue for lo-
cal governments could be up to $19.5
million per year, and revenue for
state government is estimated to gar-
ner up to $23.5 million from back-
ground check fees.
The National Rifle Association is
opposed to Measure 114, citing con-
cerns of unconstitutionality and in-
fringement of privacy on its website.
The local Friends of NRA chapter
could not be reached for comment.
Kebler, Campbell, Councilor Me-
gan Perkins, Mayor Pro Tem An-
thony Broadman and Mayor Gena
Goodman-Campbell have said they
support Measure 114. The other two
City Council members, Mo Mitch-
ell and Stephen Sehgal, could not be
reached for comment. The work ses-
sion on Wednesday will determine
whether the entire council will pub-
licly support the measure.
The city of Redmond could also
be examining possible council action
on gun restrictions this month. Red-
mond City Councilor Ed Fitch said
he heard community concerns and
anxieties surrounding gun safety af-
ter the Bend Safeway shooting, which
prompted him to propose the coun-
cil discuss city ordinances to restrict
loaded weapons and assault-type
weapons within city limits at the
next meeting on Sept. 27.
“It’s not an issue of controlling
guns,” Fitch told The Bulletin. He
said, instead, it was a matter of the
community feeling safe in parks and
public spaces.
Councilor Krisanna Clark-End-
icott, who said she has a concealed
carry permit, has opposed such
changes.
“I do not believe it is our position
to put gun control in front of the
council and put parameters around
gun control when we have solid cit-
izens carrying guns safely,” she said
during a Redmond council meeting
Sept. 13.
Fitch, who is also running for Red-
mond’s mayoral seat, said any discus-
sion of regulations would be up to
the council.
█
Reporter: 541-633-2160
akaminski@bendbulletin.com