A federal judge considering whether to appoint a special master to look at former President Donald Trump’s seized records has been provided a list of four academics specializing in executive privilege, including one who has been loudly against Trump for years.
A group called the National Security Counselors on Aug. 29 told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee weighing whether to appoint the special master to sift through records seized by FBI agents, that it identified four “uniquely qualified experts” who could serve as the special master if Cannon decides one is needed.
The accumulation of expertise on the matter of executive privilege “uniquely qualifies any of these individuals to ably serve you as a Special Master, should you choose to appoint one,” Kel McClanahan, executive director of the group, said in a letter to Cannon.
One of the individuals, Northwestern University law professor Heidi Kitrosser, has been vocally anti-Trump for years, a review of her social media posts shows.
Just this month, Kitrosser called Trump “an existential threat to democracy.”
She has also described him as “shameless,” “spineless,” a narcissist, having a “dangerous obsession with image control,” “cowardly,” and having a bigoted immigration policy.
Kitrosser has also promoted the theory that Russian President Vladimir Putin controls Trump, sharing a blog post in 2018 titled “Keep in Mind that Putin Manages Trump With Carrots and Sticks,” which she called “pretty chilling” and “important.”
In other posts, Kitrosser expressed support for anti-Trump Republicans, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and government officials fired or criticized for violating government policy and/or laws, such as former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr.
Kitrosser did not respond to a request for comment nor did Andrew Knopf, an attorney who entered the list with the court.
McClanahan has also frequently denigrated Trump online, a review of the National Security Counselors, which he is identified as running, shows.
McClanahan, for instance, said on Aug. 29, “I don’t want to jinx it, but seriously, only Donald Trump could singlehandedly snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in a midterm election year just by being his arrogant, narcissistic, delusional self.”
