Trump’s Classified Documents and Election Cases

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Pence subpoenaed by special counsel probing Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel overseeing investigations into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-michael-pence-donald-trump-subpoenas-866034edd3ce3dfbc722b31a3d0e465f?

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Pence subpoena could set up fight over executive privilege

WASHINGTON (AP) — The subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence is a milestone moment in an ongoing Justice Department special counsel investigation. But it doesn’t guarantee he’s going to be testifying before a grand jury anytime soon.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-michael-pence-disaster-planning-and-response-district-of-columbia-donald-trump-58ce3d93baf0c4e1a9567c4a563b658f?

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Pence to fight special counsel subpoena on 2020 election

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to fight a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing investigations into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to people familiar with his thinking.

https://apnews.com/article/mike-pence-subpoena-trump-special-counsel-3d91f095101d4eca30c22582341f8422?

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Subpoenas to Meadows and Pence. Eight secret court cases. The special counsel is not messing around

Special counsel Jack Smith and his team of federal prosecutors are very busy as they investigate Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 elections and his hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Mike Pence is preparing to fight their subpoena on the claim that he was acting as the president of the Senate on January 6 and is therefore protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause. They’ve subpoenaed former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, setting up a likely fight over executive privilege. And aside from those things, CNN reports they are engaged in at least eight secret court cases.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/16/2153258/-Special-counsel-s-investigation-is-proceeding-quietly-but-that-doesn-t-mean-Donald-Trump-can-relax?

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Special counsel subpoenas dozens of Mar-a-Lago staff in classified documents investigation

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has ruled that the crime-fraud exception does apply and Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran has to answer questions about the classified documents without invoking attorney-client privilege.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/17/2158740/-Special-counsel-subpoenas-dozens-of-Mar-a-Lago-staff-in-classified-documents-investigation?

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Judge says several Trump aides, including former chief of staff, must testify to Jan. 6 grand jury

Trump’s privilege claims for other former White House aides, including Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino, also were rejected, the sources said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/politics/trump-aides-executive-privilege-meadows/index.html?

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Mike Pence must testify before grand jury investigating Jan. 6, judge rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence will have to testify before a grand jury in the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

https://apnews.com/article/pence-testify-grand-jury-trump-subpoena-07bdd3e97230dc28787f0becb98bcb4b?

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Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn scheduled to be interviewed by special counsel probing Jan. 6

Top Trump adviser and lawyer Boris Epshteyn is scheduled to meet Thursday with special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutors as part of the probe into former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-adviser-boris-epshteyn-scheduled-interviewed-special-counsel/story?

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Appeals court rejects Trump effort to block Pence testimony

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday night moved former Vice President Mike Pence closer to appearing before a grand jury investigating efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, rejecting a bid by lawyers for former President Donald Trump to block the testimony.

https://apnews.com/article/pence-trump-justice-department-jan-6-12cbe2317b83dad18a5ced6f26761c78?

Trump loses appeal to block Pence from testifying about direct communications

Former President Donald Trump has lost an emergency attempt to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying about their direct conversations, in the latest boost to a federal criminal investigation examining Trump’s and others’ actions after the 2020 election.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/politics/trump-loses-appeal-pence-testimony/index.html?

Mike Pence must testify before grand jury investigating Jan. 6, judge rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence will have to testify before a grand jury in the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

https://apnews.com/article/pence-testify-grand-jury-trump-subpoena-07bdd3e97230dc28787f0becb98bcb4b?

Pence testifies before election probe grand jury: AP source

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter.

https://apnews.com/article/pence-trump-grand-jury-2020-jan-6-9dac6db37ab8923ff1b0f09f3a9a32c8

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Exclusive: New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified

The National Archives has informed former President Donald Trump that it is set to hand over to special counsel Jack Smith 16 records that show Trump and his top advisers had knowledge of the correct declassification process while he was president, according to multiple sources.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/politics/trump-letter-archives-special-counsel-declassification/index.html?

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Trump Might Not Be Able to Use His Idiocy as a Defense Anymore

Don’t look now, but Donald Trump’s “I’m an idiot” defense may go up in smoke, as the notion that Trump sincerely thought he could wave his hand and magically deem documents declassified seems to be taking a major hit.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-might-not-be-able-to-use-his-idiocy-as-a-defense-anymore?

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Lawyer who quit Trump legal team cites disagreements with Trump adviser as basis for departure

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer who quit Donald Trump’s legal team this past week attributed his decision Saturday to strategy disagreements with a close adviser to the former president.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-maralago-jack-smith-f9bc355b5bd5149a685a69313414d9ef?

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Trump was warned about retaining classified documents, notes reveal

Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/22/trump-warning-classified-documents-mar-a-lago?

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Trump lawyer said to have been waved off searching office for secret records

Exclusive: Evan Corcoran said he was steered away from Trump’s office, where the FBI later found the most sensitive materials

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/30/evan-corcoran-trump-lawyer-waved-off-secret-document-search?

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Lordy, There Are Tapes [of Trump Acknowledging He Had Stolen Classified Documents]!

CNN has a blockbuster report about a recording, taken in conjunction with Mark Meadows’ memoir, capturing Trump claiming that he had a document planning an attack on Iran that he wished he could share, but could not, because it was classified.

https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/05/31/lordy-there-are-tapes-of-trump-acknowledging-he-had-stolen-classified-documents/?

Reports: Prosecutors have tape of Trump discussing holding onto classified doc after leaving office

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump from after he left office in which he talks about holding onto a classified Pentagon document related to a potential attack on Iran, according to media reports.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-documents-maralago-bc9b3613bd69d79e84ad6cb5eaa6a8e6?

 

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Exclusive: Trump attorneys haven’t found classified document former president referred to on tape following subpoena

Attorneys for Donald Trump turned over material in mid-March in response to a federal subpoena related to a classified US military document described by the former president on tape in 2021 but were unable to find the document itself, two sources tell CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/02/politics/donald-trump-iran-subpoena/index.html?

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Grand jury in Trump classified documents case expected to meet this coming week after hiatus

A grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the case against former President Donald Trump is expected to meet this coming week in Washington after a lull.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/grand-jury-trump-classified-documents-case-expected-meet-coming-week-h-rcna87599?

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Trump lawyers meet Jack Smith

Trump lawyers got their meeting with special counsel Jack Smith today, visiting the Justice Department for a sit-down that lasted several hours.

• They were there to urge against an indictment over the former president's handling of classified documents, and to talk through their concerns over the handling of the investigation, the Washington Post reports.
• The meeting did not include Attorney General Merrick Garland or deputy AG Lisa Monaco.

Why it matters: Trump's tone toward the investigation is reaching a tenor similar to that from before he was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Screenshot via TruthSocial

The bottom line: Two Trump advisers briefed on today's meeting expect a charging decision in the coming weeks, the Post reports.

• Grand jury activity has slowed down on the case, reports CBS News, which was first to spot the Trump lawyers entering the Justice Department.

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Trump asks 'How can DOJ possibly charge me' after his lawyers meet with feds

The meeting could be a further sign that the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents is nearing an end.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-asks-can-doj-charge-lawyers-meet-feds-rcna87770?

Trump investigators ‘zone in’ on worker who flooded Mar-a-Lago records room

It was not immediately clear whether the room was flooded intentionally or not

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mar-a-lago-pool-flooding-trump-meltdown-b2352234.html?

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Is Accountability Finally Coming?

Remember when he was called Teflon Don (à la mob boss John Gotti)? Are you angered (like me) that as evidence of his crimes keeps piling up prosecutors continue to hesitate from filing charges? Are you worried (like I have been) that nothing Donald Trump has done—or might still do—will ever convince Attorney General Merrick Garland that it is time to indict?

https://america.substack.com/p/accountability-is-finally-coming?

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Mark Meadows testified to federal grand jury in special counsel probe of Trump

Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, has testified to a federal grand jury as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s ongoing investigation into the former president, according to one source familiar with the matter.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/mark-meadows-grand-jury-trump-probe/index.html?

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Prosecutors ready to ask for Trump indictment on obstruction and Espionage Act charges

The Independent has learned that prosecutors are prepared to ask grand jurors to vote on charges as early as Thursday

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-indictment-section-793-espionage-act-mark-meadows-b2353684.html

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Justice Dept. moves closer toward possible indictment of Trump in classified documents investigation

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump in Florida heard from at least one additional witness Wednesday amid signs that the Justice Department was moving toward a possible indictment over the former president’s mishandling of classified documents.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-florida-grand-jury-classified-documents-5d346c69dfb4f9bc07e6f8adc6aa13bc?

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? Trump told he's a target

Screenshot: President Trump on Truth Social

Federal prosecutors informed former President Trump's lawyers that he's a target of their investigation into his handling of classified documents after he left office — a formality that's often a prelude to criminal charges, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).

• CNN, which also reported the target letter, said it "crystallizes that special counsel Jack Smith's investigation is focused on Trump’s actions and not just the actions of people around him."

Get the latest.

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Steve Bannon subpoenaed in January 6 probe

Steve Bannon, a right-wing podcast host and former White House adviser to Donald Trump, was subpoenaed to provide documents and testimony to a federal grand jury investigating January 6, 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/07/politics/steve-bannon-subpoenaed-january-6-probe/index.html?