Even MORE bad legal news for Trump: Court orders his lawyer Evan Corcoran to testify Friday, handing over his notes and audio on why the former president kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
- The judge issued a sealed ruling Friday that Trump’s lawyer must testify again
- She wrote a letter to the DOJ mentioning ‘criminal violations’
- Trump’s team criticized ‘illegal’ leaks, said there is no basis for any case
A federal appeals court panel in DC ruled Wednesday that Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, must turn over documents to Justice Department prosecutors investigating classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Corcoran drafted a statement to the Justice Department last year stating that a “diligent search” of classified documents had been conducted at the former president’s Florida residence in response to a subpoena.
However, months later, FBI agents searched Trump’s home with a warrant and found approximately 100 additional documents with classified marks.
The three-judge panel upheld District Court Judge Beryl Howell’s decision last week that Corcoran must provide notes and transcripts to special counsel Jack Smith.
Donald Trump’s campaign is rejecting a report based on a sealed letter from a judge about possible criminal violations in conversations protected by Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran. On Wednesday, an Appeals Court panel upheld a lower court’s ruling that Corcoran must provide the documents and information sought by the office of special counsel Jack Smith.
The ruling ended a temporary stay blocking the order and ordered unnamed parties to comply with the sealed order.
The legal details apparently correlate to a closed-door fight before a trial judge over whether M. Evan Corcoran could be forced to provide documents or give grand jury testimony in the Justice Department’s special counsel’s investigation into whether Trump mishandled top-secret information in March. -a-Lake.
Last Friday, Beryl Howell, the outgoing chief judge of the US District Court, ordered Corcoran to answer more questions before the grand jury. He had appeared before the Mar-A-Lago federal grand jury weeks earlier, but invoked attorney-client privilege to avoid answering certain questions.
A Trump spokeswoman slammed a news report as ‘fake news’ and ‘ILLEGALLY LEAKED’, after parts of a letter from Howell to special counsel Jack Smith about investigating the former president’s handling of government documents intended for release to National Archives. .
Although the attorney-client privilege protects lawyers from being forced to share details of their client conversations with law enforcement, that legal shield can be removed in a ‘crime-fraud’ case. That is, if a client uses the services of a lawyer to promote a crime, there is no legal protection for legal communication.
The three judges who issued the decision included Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, both appointees of President Joe Biden.
Corcoran is scheduled to testify before a grand jury on Friday, separate from the Manhattan grand jury in New York, reports CNN.
Former President Donald Trump’s team criticized the developments in federal court, during a week in which Trump faces a possible indictment in Manhattan in another case.
Jack Smith was appointed in November as a special prosecutor by the Justice Department and was tasked with investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents and his actions around January 6.
US District Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled that Corcoran should testify
More than 100 documents marked “classified” were later identified at Mar-a-Lago during an FBI search following certifications from a diligent search.
