**Sealed Notes Reveal Trump’s Alleged Attempts to Conceal Classified Documents**
In a significant development, prosecutors from the special counsel’s office have presented compelling preliminary evidence suggesting that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his attorneys about retaining classified materials after leaving office. This revelation comes from a sealed filing by U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who recently stepped down as the D.C. district court’s chief judge. Sources familiar with the contents of the filing shared these details with ABC News.
Judge Howell’s filing indicates that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office made a “prima facie showing” that Trump committed criminal violations. This finding allows for the piercing of attorney-client privileges invoked by two of Trump’s lawyers. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents.
In her sealed order, Howell mandated that Evan Corcoran, one of Trump’s attorneys, comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry, over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege. Additionally, Howell ordered Corcoran to hand over various records related to what she described as Trump’s alleged “criminal scheme.” These records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings.
Howell’s decision to pierce Corcoran’s privilege was based on the prima facie standard, which means that the evidence presented by prosecutors appeared sufficient to show that Trump committed crimes. However, Howell emphasized that prosecutors would need to meet a higher standard of evidence to seek charges against Trump and prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Brandon Van Grack, a former top national security official in the Justice Department, explained to ABC News that while the prima facie standard is a lower hurdle, it indicates that the government presented some evidence meeting the elements of a crime.
Howell found that prosecutors showed “sufficient” evidence that Trump “intentionally concealed” the existence of additional classified documents from Corcoran, putting Corcoran in an unwitting position to deceive the government. The specific evidence reviewed by Howell remains unclear, as it was sealed.
In response to ABC News, a Trump campaign spokesperson criticized the report, calling it “ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations” and accusing the media of attacking Trump’s legal team. The spokesperson argued that prosecutors only target lawyers when they lack a strong case.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
These developments highlight another dimension of Trump’s ongoing legal challenges. As Smith’s classified documents probe progresses, prosecutors in New York are considering a separate indictment against Trump over alleged hush payments to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election. Trump also faces scrutiny in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state, and Smith is continuing his investigation into Trump’s attempts to interfere in the 2020 election.
Central to Smith’s efforts in the classified documents probe is determining whether Trump’s lawyers falsely certified that Trump had returned all classified records to the government or whether Trump himself sought to conceal records he might have unlawfully retained.
Federal prosecutors have claimed that Trump’s lawyers certified in June 2022 that a “diligent search” of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate found only 38 classified documents stored in a secured storage room. However, when FBI agents raided the premises two months later, they discovered more than 100 additional classified documents, some of which were found outside the storage room, including in Trump’s office desk.
In her order, Howell criticized Trump’s actions since early last year in response to the government’s attempts to retrieve all classified documents taken from the White House. She described Trump’s interactions with National Archives officials as a “dress rehearsal” for his later efforts at misdirection in response to the grand jury subpoena.
As previously reported by ABC News, investigators sought to compel the testimony of Corcoran and another Trump attorney, Jennifer Little, citing the crime-fraud exception, which allows for attorney-client privilege to be pierced in cases where legal services were rendered in the commission of a crime. Howell ordered Little’s testimony as well, with the exception of one topic for which she sought to assert attorney-client privilege.
Prosecutors have sought to question Corcoran about how he aided another Trump attorney, Christina Bobb, in drafting the June 2022 statement to the Justice Department, which Bobb ultimately signed. Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal Howell’s ruling.
In a related development, a historic federal indictment against Trump was made public, detailing charges related to his handling of sensitive government records after leaving the White House. The 44-page indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Trump “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal retention of classified documents.” The indictment names Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump, as a co-conspirator.
The indictment lists 37 felony counts against Trump, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. At least four of the charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Trump was summoned to appear in federal district court in Miami for an arraignment. He spent the day at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, golfing with GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida.
The classified documents stored by Trump included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries, U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack. The unauthorized disclosure of these documents could jeopardize national security, foreign relations, the safety of the U.S. military, and the viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.
Among the 31 records related to national defense discovered at Mar-a-Lago were White House intelligence briefings from 2018 to 2020, documents concerning military capabilities of foreign countries and the U.S., a June 2020 document involving a foreign country’s nuclear capabilities, an undated record about U.S. nuclear weaponry, and a document from October 2018 concerning communications with another country’s leader. Twenty-one of these documents were marked “TOP SECRET,” while nine were marked “SECRET.”
The indictment states that Mar-a-Lago was not an authorized location for the storage, possession, review, display, or discussion of classified documents after Trump left office. Despite this, Trump stored his boxes containing classified documents in various locations at Mar-a-Lago, including a ballroom, a bathroom, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.
The indictment also alleges that Trump showed classified documents to others on multiple occasions in 2021. In one instance, he showed a “plan of attack” prepared by the Defense Department to a writer, publisher, and two staff members at his golf club in Bedminster. In another instance, he showed a classified map related to a military operation to an official with his political action committee.
The indictment outlines efforts by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Justice Department to recover presidential records, which began in May 2021 and escalated over the next 15 months. A federal grand jury issued a subpoena on May 11, 2022, for all documents with classification markings. Trump allegedly directed his attorney to falsely represent to investigators that he did not have documents relevant to the subpoena and directed Nauta to move boxes of records to conceal them.
The attempts to recover the records culminated in an extraordinary court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago by the FBI on August 8, 2022. The indictment notes that more than 100 documents with classification markings remained at Mar-a-Lago until the FBI’s search.
Prosecutors detailed Trump’s alleged efforts to obstruct the probe, including suggesting his attorney falsely represent to investigators that Trump didn’t have documents relevant to the subpoena and directing Nauta to move boxes of records to conceal them. Trump also allegedly suggested his attorney hide or destroy documents covered by the subpoena.
The criminal case brought by federal prosecutors in Florida is unrelated to the state charges leveled against Trump in April in New York, which involve allegations of falsification of business records. Special counsel Jack Smith is also examining efforts to stop the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election and events surrounding the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
Trump is expected to travel to Columbus, Georgia, to speak at the state’s GOP convention and then at the North Carolina Republican convention in Greensboro. He will travel from Bedminster to Miami via his private plane, “Trump Force One,” and is expected to spend the night at Trump National Doral Miami before his scheduled arraignment.
Source: ABC News, CBS News
