HEATING UP: Sudden flurry of activity & deadlines in Trump classified documents case

Sudden flurry of activity & deadlines in Trump classified documents case

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the outcome of the judge’s ruling in an update appended to the end of the article.

Donald Trump’s classified documents case has taken a sudden, intensifying turn over the past several days, while he was directing his fans’ focus toward his potential indictment in New York.

Tuesday night was marked by fast-paced filing and a desperate attempt by the former president’s legal team to block one attorney’s testimony.

Last year Evan Corcoran drafted a document indicating that Trump had complied with orders to return the classified material to the National Archives, although a search would later turn up dozens of boxes of documents and other items.

Now, the Justice Department hopes to question him, and an appeals court gave Trump a very brief opportunity overnight to provide any reason that shouldn’t happen.

Trump had until midnight to argue his case, and the DOJ had until 6 am to explain why the ruling from Judge Beryl Howell, not only permitting them to question Corcoran,but giving them access to his notes and other documents, should stand.

Though the arguments Trump’s legal team made are not public, they did make an 8-page filing on his behalf.

A spokesperson for the former president has argued that this is a “violation of due process” and a case of the prosecution “pla[ing] corrupt games with the Constitution,” but the crime-fraud exception does allow questioning of an attorney if there’s evidence that his advice was used to help commit a crime.

Now the appellate court will decide whether Trump can exclude any documents from review, and whether Judge Howell’s order for Corcoran to testify stands.

Newsweek quotes former assistant attorney general for New York state Tristan Snell:

“[T]hey’re making the lawyers submit everything in HOURS. This is completely unheard of…The explanation that comes to mind is that *something* in the evidence submitted by DOJ has suddenly caused these judges to act with urgency we’ve never seen before.”

Snell goes on to postulate that this could imply a serious ongoing threat to national security, to spur such unprecedented turn-around times.

However, there’s no public information from the court regarding a decision so far, and Trump, too, has been uncharacteristically quiet about the proceedings.

Still, the bar for forcing an attorney to testify isn’t low, and Howell’s ruling declared that the DOJ had made a “prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,” according to ABC News — meaning that, while further evidence would be needed for indictment and conviction, the government has made a strong argument that there is proof Trump committed criminal acts.

Notably, the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago cited possible violations of the espionage act with the discovery of classified material, a fact Trump seems to have tried to dodge by repeatedly suggesting the case was about the presidential records act.

UPDATE: The D.C. Circuit has ruled on Donald Trump’s appeal of the order for his attorney to testify, handing the Department of Justice another win by upholding Judge Beryl Howell’s ruling, per Law&Crime.

Evan Corcoran will have to turn over documents, including his transcriptions of conversations he recorded between himself and the former president, and will have to answer questions on several matters in which he previously claimed attorney-client privilege.

Steph Bazzle covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph.

Stephanie Bazzle

Steph Bazzle is a news writer who covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph. Sign up for all of her stories to be delivered to your inbox here: