Major Mar-a-Lago classified documents saga continues with
this update from SALON.com with this headline:
“Breakdown in trust: Expert
says Judge's order suggests DOJ suspects Trump has more classified docs”
Short Introduction from SALON:
A Federal Judge has ordered
Trump's lawyers to turn over names of private investigators who searched
Trump's properties last month for additional classified documents (re: The New York Times).
Federal District of D.C Chief Judge Beryl Howell issued an order
siding with the DOJ which is looking to question the investigators about the
search.
The November search (following the initial August FBI
search) turned up at least two additional documents marked classified at a
storage unit off-sight near Mar-a-Lago – that followed the FBI search that seized
about 100 documents marked classified from the president's residence back in
August.
A top DOJ official told Trump's lawyers in October that the
department believed that Trump still had classified materials. Trump's
attorneys had previously affirmed that the former president had returned all
classified documents last summer before investigators found the additional
materials.
Follow the rest of the story at the Salon link above.
NOTE: The background on that SALON piece is from The Washington Post with this headline on December:
“Legal experts: Trump
attorneys may throw him under the bus after DOJ moves to hold them in contempt”
The DOJ has asked a federal judge to hold Trump's legal team in
contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena issued this summer
ordering him to return all classified documents in his possession.
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell has been asked by the DOJ but
has not yet held a hearing or ruled on the DOJ's request.
This comes months after Trump's lawyers assured the DOJ that
a search had been conducted for classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago
residence, before the FBI later executed a court-authorized search that led to
the discovery of more than 100 documents marked as classified, and Trump's team
recently reportedly found two additional items marked classified at a
Florida off-sight storage locker after Howell ordered them to keep looking.
Trump's legal team has refused to designate a custodian of
records to sign a document attesting that all classified materials have been
returned to the federal government. This has remained a key area of
disagreement in the matter after Trump attorney Christina Bobb signed a
declaration affirming that all documents had been returned over the summer —
before the DOJ discovered additional documents.
Two Key Highlights:
After the initial August FBI search, Judge Howell ordered
Trump's legal team to conduct a search for more records, which reportedly
uncovered two more classified documents off-sights in November.
Searches at other Trump properties, including his Bedminster
golf course in NJ and at Trump Tower in Manhattan, did not yield any records.
The above Washington Post article continues here.
Here is the same subject related coverage from NEWSWEEK.
My 2 cents: As stated before the evidence is overwhelming on this most-serious crime, and I ask again: “Where are all the classified documents?”
Justice for Trump is forthcoming.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment