The Department of Justice says that Trump, «as the party requesting the special master,» should bear all the costs.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and lawyers for former President Donald Trump have submitted competing proposals for who should serve as special master in the examination of classified documents that were retrieved from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.
In a joint legal filing published on Friday, a federal court judge that originally ruled in favor of a special master noted that the DOJ and Trump’s lawyers also had differing opinions on who should pay for the special master’s work. Trump’s legal team argued that the bill should be split evenly between the two parties, while the DOJ said Trump should have to pay for the expenses by himself, since he is the one requesting that a special master be appointed.
If both sides end up paying an equal amount for the costs associated with a special master’s work, taxpayers would foot half the bill for a process that Trump demanded and that a judge appointed by him agreed to.
The filing listed the names of the pitches from both sides regarding who should become the special master.
