A federal judge on Friday ruled that a lawyer for former President Donald Trump cannot use attorney-client privilege to get out of answering questions in the criminal investigation of the ex-commander in chiefs mishandling of classified documents.
District Judge Beryl Howell ordered attorney Evan Corcoran to provide additional testimony to a grand jury hearing evidence against Trump, arguing in her ruling that the Justice Department met the threshold for the crime-fraud exception for attorney-client privilege, according to CNN.
Prosecutors allege that Corcoran was used by Trump in furtherance of a crime or fraud, which would overcome the shield of attorney-client privilege, according to the news outlet.
When Corcoran first appeared before the grand jury in January, he reportedly refused to answer questions about his discussions with Trump in the lead-up to the August FBI raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate. Hundreds of pages of classified documents were seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence by the FBI last August.Getty Images
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump for obstruction of justice and criminal violations of the Presidential Records Act.
Corcoran is one of at least three Trump attorneys who have reportedly appeared before the federal grand jury Alina Habba and Christina Bobb being the other two.
Corcoran drafted a statement signed by Bobb in June 2022 that declared that Trumps team had fully complied with a subpoena seeking classified documents being housed at Mar-a-Lago. Trump lawyer Alina Habba reportedly has also appeared before the federal grand jury.Steven Hirsch
Two months later, the FBI recovered hundreds of pages of classified material during its search of Trumps Palm Beach, Fla., club and residence.
Judge Howells ruling comes one day after a report that at least two dozen Mar-a-Lago staffers including restaurant servers and a housekeeper have gotten subpoenas as part of Smiths probe.
Investigators are reportedly interested in what staff at Trumps private club and residence may have witnessed while working at the property.
At least one Mar-a-Lago employee who reportedly spoke to investigators was seen on security camera footage helping Trump aide Walt Nauta move boxes out of a storage room on the property.
