'Where's the beef?' Special master knocks Trump's lack of evidence on document claims
Judge Raymond Dearie, who is serving as special master in a document dispute, admonished attorneys for former President Donald Trump and attorneys for the government on Tuesday.
During a status call about documents that were seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Dearie seemed to have little patience for either side.
Reuters correspondent Sarah Lynch reported that Dearie complained that the former president had not provided proof of his privilege claims over many of the documents.
“Saying it so doesn’t make it so,” Dearie remarked.
Lynch said the judge became "frustrated" because attorneys were spending time on documents that were not in dispute.
"I have no patience for either one of you," the judge told attorneys for both sides. "I don't want to be dealing with nonsense objections, nonsense assertions"
He pointed out that Trump has made "numerous assertions" that he owns many of the government records.
"It's a little perplexing as I go through the log," Dearie added. "Where's the beef?"
Dearie has ordered the attorneys to make a joint submission of disputed documents by Nov. 12.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has asked an appeals court to end the special master's review. Final briefings in that appeal are due by Nov. 17.