Prosecutors Believe There Is Evidence To Charge Trump For Obstruction

0
878

Although the report doesn’t go into great detail about the precise nature of the evidence, a new report from Bloomberg says certain Justice Department prosecutors “believe there is sufficient evidence to charge Donald Trump with obstruction of justice” related to the classified documents investigation, although that’s far from the end of it.

Among other considerations, indications point to any charges coming only after the upcoming midterm elections. Trump obviously isn’t on the ballot this year, but many candidates who are running are politically associated with him, and he remains generally at the helm of the GOP. Unlike the Trump era, in which the then-president repeatedly sought to intervene in the work of the Justice Department, relevant officials remain keen on tamping down any appearance of political motivations associated with their investigative activities. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who’s investigating pro-Trump election meddling after the last presidential race, planned a quiet period for public investigative work leading up to Election Day.

As for the Justice Department probe, concrete evidence already began circulating that obstruction was among the potential criminal offenses under scrutiny. It was cited in warrant materials associated with the FBI’s August raid of Mar-a-Lago, where agents recovered some 100 documents marked classified, despite an earlier subpoena from the Justice Department demanding an array of such materials still in the ex-president’s possession and a statement subsequently signed by a Trump lawyer claiming everything covered by the subpoena was getting returned. That Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, has since answered questions for investigators in the documents probe, reportedly directing their attention to fellow Trump lawyer and former federal prosecutor Evan Corcoran, who she indicated drafted the statement. An earlier report in The Washington Post said Corcoran was resisting retaining his own lawyer, despite presumably impending investigative scrutiny.

At the department, Bloomberg notes there is not universal consensus about potentially charging Trump. Among the considerations is whether to file a case against Trump only over obstruction when other charges are possible. In the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department is currently pushing for an end to a review by a court-appointed third party of documents seized in the raid and, more specifically, privilege claims from Trump. The department argues that process is impeding relevant work in the investigation like establishing context clues about the handling of the materials recovered from Trump. According to Bloomberg, no formal recommendation to Attorney General Merrick Garland about charging Trump for obstruction in this probe has yet been made. Garland, who already made a rare public indication of his involvement after the Mar-a-Lago raid, would be tasked with deciding on charges.

Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi was rather optimistic about the possibility of an obstruction charge. “Of all the things Trump is being investigated for around the country, obstruction of justice is a slam dunk and I think he’s going to be indicted,” he said. “I don’t see why a charge of obstruction of justice couldn’t be filed by the end of the year.” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger already said in a U.S. Supreme Court filing this month that investigators uncovered indications that “efforts had likely been undertaken to obstruct the investigation.”

Featured image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons