Special Counsel Jack Smith has just made an argument for releasing Donald Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, from the attorney-client privilege exception so that the lawyer can testify. When conversations occur related to the commission of a crime or crimes, that privilege is no longer valid. Most importantly, Smith’s action implies there was a crime committed involving Trump and Corcoran.
Federal prosecutors for the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote to the judge overseeing the case claiming that the ex-president and Corcoran were indeed involved in a crime of fraud, according to The New York Times.
A Trump spokesperson noted Smith was conducting a “witch hunt:”
‘[N]othing more than a targeted, politically motivated witch hunt against President Trump, concocted to try and prevent the American people from returning him to the White House.’
Operating under the auspices of the Department of Justice (DOJ) but independently, Special Counsel Smith has been moving aggressively on his investigation into the stolen files and Trump’s multiple and varied attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Thus far, the case of the stolen files is still under seal.
The former president’s attorney testified before a grand jury earlier. Corcoran was there for four hours, and he was attorney number three to go before the grand jury. However, Smith wanted Corcoran to testify again.
When Corcoran testified originally, prosecutors wanted to know what occurred prior to the August raid of Trump’s resort and what advice Trump’s attorney gave to the prior president. Corcoran avoided some of the questions in the grand jury by claiming attorney-client privilege.
At this point, we do not know if the DOJ has gleaned new evidence of a crime, or if the federal prosecutors were relying upon the original argument that held when they raided Mar-a-Lago in search of those important documents. According to CNN:
‘[The DOJ charged] Trump [with] mishandling of national security records and obstruction of justice.’
Corcoran released a statement early last summer taking responsibility for Trump’s people collecting all of the documents and items intended for the National Archives. The attorney signed his name to the statement claiming the ex-president had performed a “diligent search.” The statement also included a claim that all of the documents from Mar-a-Lago had been returned.
But when the FBI agents came to the resort with a search warrant, they collected “hundreds of government records,” including classified material:
‘The Trump team found even more classified material in subsequent searches they conducted and turned what they found over to the Justice Department.’
Since then, Trump’s attorneys turned over an empty file folder they discovered in the previous POTUS’ Mar-a-Lago bedroom, The Rolling Stone reported. The lawyers also included a laptop and thumb drive where an aide inadvertently copied classified material, apparently.
Gloria Christie is a political journalist for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions, her book written in her own unique style with a twist of humor on Amazon Kindle Vella and the Gloria Christie Three White Lions podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress).
