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Donald Trump’s legal team has requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland amid fears of possible indictment. His attorneys are concerned about Trump’s alleged efforts to hold onto classified materials after leaving office and obstructing the government’s attempts to retrieve them.
Sources familiar with the matter state that Trump’s legal team argues against charging him in the investigation, which involves mishandling classified documents. The attorneys describe the ongoing injustice that special counsel Jack Smith is perpetrating and claim that no president has been baselessly investigated in such an unlawful fashion.
John Rowley and James Trusty, Trump’s lawyers, signed the one-page letter to Garland. However, it does not include any specific allegations of wrongdoing against Smith and his team. Trump has repeatedly denied any mishandling of classified documents. It’s unclear whether Trump’s attorneys have acted on any specific knowledge about Smith’s investigation. A spokesperson for Garland declined to comment on the letter, and the special counsel’s office did not offer any information.
Trump’s team and the government have been negotiating for over a year, but they have reached an impasse that has led to the government’s May 2022 subpoena for documents and its subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago last August. Since then, DOJ and Trump’s lawyers have contested compliance with grand jury subpoenas. Early in 2022, National Archives officials requested that the Justice Department investigate Trump’s White House records’ handling. This occurred after the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort that had been improperly removed from the White House in violation of the Presidential Records Act.
On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago, and the DOJ probe reached a critical point. Federal investigators seized more than 100 documents with classified markings during the search, including 43 empty folders seized with classified banners from Trump’s office. The inventory list of seized materials also showed agents had gathered over 11,000 documents or photos without classification markings that belonged to the U.S. government. Trump and his legal team have since found additional classified documents.
Since August, Trump and his team have received several subpoenas for information they may still possess. Prosecutors in the special counsel’s office presented preliminary evidence in March that Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his attorneys about retaining classified material after leaving office. Judge Beryl Howell ordered Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran to comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege. Howell ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records related to Trump’s alleged criminal scheme.
Trump’s lawyers’ meeting request comes as infighting within the legal team has become public. Former Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore — who left the team last week — accused current lawyer Boris Epshteyn of interfering with searches for classified material at Trump’s properties. During a CNN appearance, Parlatore stated that Epshteyn was not honest with them or the client on certain issues. He added that Epshteyn made defending Trump harder. However, a Trump campaign spokesperson stated that Parlatore’s assertions were categorically false.
The letter from Trump’s legal team requests a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland, citing concerns of a possible indictment. The attorneys argue that Trump should not be charged in the investigation related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. They describe the ongoing injustice that special counsel Jack Smith is perpetrating, claiming that no prior president has been investigated in such an unlawful fashion.
Trump’s lawyers, John Rowley and James Trusty, signed the one-page letter requesting a meeting with Garland. However, the request omits specific allegations of wrongdoing against Smith and his team. Trump denies mishandling classified documents, and it remains unclear whether his attorneys acted on any specific knowledge of Smith’s investigation. Garland and the special counsel’s office have declined to comment on the letter.
The government’s subpoena for documents and subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago last August followed over a year of negotiations between Trump’s legal team and the government. The DOJ and Trump’s lawyers have been battling over compliance with grand jury subpoenas since then. Early in 2022, National Archives officials asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of White House records, prompting an investigation that led to the August 8, 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago by FBI agents.
During the search, federal investigators seized over 100 documents with classified markings. The agents found 43 empty classified folders in Trump’s office alone and over 11,000 documents or photos without classification markings, all belonging to the U.S. government. Trump’s legal team has since found additional classified documents and received more subpoenas for information they may still possess.
Prosecutors in the special counsel’s office presented preliminary evidence in March that Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his attorneys about retaining classified material after leaving office. Judge Beryl Howell ordered Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran to comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege. Howell ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records related to Trump’s alleged criminal scheme.
The Trump legal team’s meeting request comes amid public infighting within the team. Former Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore has accused current lawyer Boris Epshteyn of interfering with searches for classified material at Trump’s properties. Parlatore claimed that Epshteyn had not been upfront with the team or the client about certain issues, making defending Trump more challenging. Trump’s campaign spokesperson denies Parlatore’s assertions, calling them categorically false.
Trump’s legal team has requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland amid concerns of a possible indictment. The team argues that Trump should not be charged with mishandling classified documents. They describe the ongoing injustice they believe special counsel Jack Smith is perpetrating on Trump. The request asks for a meeting to discuss these concerns with Garland.
Trump’s attorneys, John Rowley and James Trusty, wrote the one-page letter to Garland. However, they did not include any specific accusations against Smith and his team. Garland and the special counsel’s office have so far declined to comment on the letter.
The government’s May 2022 subpoena for documents and subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 came after months of negotiations between the government and Trump’s legal team. However, they reached an impasse that led to the subpoenas and the search. Since then, there has been a battle over compliance with grand jury subpoenas.
During the August search of Mar-a-Lago, federal investigators seized more than 100 documents with classified markings, including 43 empty folders. They also gathered over 11,000 documents or photos without classification markings that belonged to the U.S. government. Since then, Trump’s legal team has found additional classified documents and received more subpoenas. Prosecutors in the special counsel’s office claimed in March that Trump knowingly misled his attorneys about retaining classified material.
Infighting within the Trump legal team has become public. Former Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore has accused current lawyer Boris Epshteyn of interfering with the searches for classified material at Trump’s properties. However, Trump’s campaign spokesperson denies Parlatore’s claims.