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On Friday afternoon, on his final day as a Supreme Court Justice for the District of Columbia, Chief Justice Beryl A. Howell did more than grant the Justice Department permission to question former President Donald Trump’s personal counsel. She actually took the unusual step of turning over her lawyer’s memo to federal prosecutors, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
In doing so, Howell may have sown the seeds of future constitutional challenges. It was taken as evidence of a crime involving the president’s improper storage of classified documents after he resigned.
Former federal prosecutor M. Evan Corcoran represented Trump in the classified documents scandal. And while Corcoran already has his hands full as Trump’s lawyer, the investigation appears to have put him in legal jeopardy.
Expert notes on Corcoran’s private communications with clients were turned over to Judge Howell, who was conducting an “on-camera review,” according to a source.
A judge who comes to the conclusion that legally protected confidential material must be surrendered to the other side usually issues an order and a time limit directing one side to do so. Doing so would allow the losing party to appeal to a higher court, preventing irreparable damage that could affect the case forever.
But Howell apparently skipped that cautious but tedious approach, handing Smith a series of documents that could indicate that Trump and one of his lawyers were plotting a crime.
Either way, Trump’s legal team has no recourse, and federal prosecutors have more evidence to bolster the next steps in the ballooning investigation.
“She has taken all legal remedies out of their hands. They could urgently appeal if she ordered them to do so. Maybe she didn’t trust them to follow orders,” said an experienced federal litigator at Washington law firm Morrison & Foerster, who has been involved in the Trump case. said David Cross, who was not involved in
A spokeswoman for the DOJ special counsel did not respond to a request for comment Friday night.
On Friday, as part of the sealed proceedings, Howell ordered Corcoran to provide additional testimony to the DOJ, CNN first reported Friday. She determined that there is something called a “criminal fraud exception” that allows investigators to break through the typical ironclad blanket of attorney-client privilege. In essence, the judge found that the legal advice Corcoran gave Trump was used to further the crime.
However, flipping his memo shows that Howell’s alleged behavior stands in stark contrast to the more traditional approach taken by a federal judge in California who faced similar questions last year. A committee on Jan. 6 called on lawyers and clients to investigate how Trump hired conservative legal scholar John Eastman to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. You were trying to access a document protected by the privileges of
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter concluded that “President Trump and Dr. Eastman likely conspired to obstruct official proceedings and defraud the United States.” But when he ordered Eastman to submit 159 documents to a congressional committee on June 7, 2022, he gave Eastman his one day to comply.
Howell’s decision on Friday appeared to be her last as chief judge of the all-important DC Court.
She was replaced by James Boasberg, another federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama.
Howell’s last-minute decision in the Trump case could be a turning point in the special counsel’s investigation. Her order in this case remains sealed and the grand jury investigation continues in legally protected secrecy.
According to Politico, the complete lack of transparency in this historic case and the still-surprising ability of news journalists to squeeze out details about secret procedures were the subject of much humor during her farewell on Friday. rice field. I bake occasionally. “
So while Trump’s legal screaming in open court against the New York Attorney General will let the American public know that the Trump organization has downplayed subpoenas and delayed investigations, this DOJ effort remains largely obscured by shadows. serious.
Federal prosecutors instigated the Jan. 6 riots, tricked the nation and its courts into a false election fraud conspiracy, and ordered the return of classified documents kept in a South Florida beachfront mansion in March. It is investigating criminal charges against the former president over how he refused. a-Lago long after leaving the White House.
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