According to ABC News, a federal judge denied a request on Friday to hold former President Trump’s legal team in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena issued in May to turn over any remaining classified documents held by the former president. The subpoena required the legal team to turn over any remaining classified documents held by the former president.
According to ABC, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell allegedly urged the Justice Department and Trump’s lawyers to come to a conclusion on their own. The court proceedings are being kept under wraps for the time being.
Following several months of efforts to retrieve classified documents from the former president, the Washington Post reported on Thursday that the Justice Department had asked Howell to find Trump’s legal team in contempt of court. This came after the department had spent time trying to get the documents from the former president.
The Washington Post reports that the Trump campaign has failed on multiple occasions to hire a custodian of records who would verify that all classified files had been returned to the appropriate federal agencies.
In January, the National Archives and Records Administration discovered classified materials within several boxes of records that had been collected from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. As a result, the Justice Department initiated an inquiry into the matter shortly thereafter.
In the end, the department issued a subpoena to the former president in May. In response, attorneys for Trump turned over 38 papers that were marked as classified.
Despite the fact that Trump’s attorney Christina Bobb stated in a statement at the time that all records had been returned “based upon the information that has been provided to me,” the legal team representing Donald Trump declined to make a sworn statement certifying that all classified documents had been returned.
When the FBI conducted a search of President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in August, they discovered more than one hundred additional classified materials.
According to multiple reports that surfaced on Wednesday, an outside group that had been hired by Trump’s legal team discovered two additional classified documents at a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida. It has been stated that the organization conducted a search of four locations affiliated with Trump in order to locate secret information.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump administration, issued a statement in which he said that the former president and his counsel will “continue to be transparent and cooperative” in the “highly weaponized and corrupt witch-hunt” being conducted by the Department of Justice. Cheung described the investigation as being “against the Trump administration.” In response to a request for comment, the Justice Department did not provide an instant response.
If you enjoyed reading this post, please share your feedback with us in the comments box below. In addition, don’t forget to check back on our website Journalistpr.com. frequently for the most recent updates.