WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Tuesday it had uncovered efforts to obstruct its investigation into the discovery of classified records at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.
The assertion was made in a court filing Tuesday night that lays out the most detailed chronology to date of interactions between Justice Department officials and Trump representatives over the presence of the documents at Mar-a-Lago.
In the filing, the Justice Department said FBI agents had “uncovered multiple sources of evidence” indicating that Trump and his representatives had failed to fully comply with a subpoena to turn over classified records and that additional classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago.
The filing came ahead of a Thursday hearing in which U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is set to hear arguments on the matter.
Trump’s lawyers last week asked for the appointment of a special master who’d be tasked with reviewing the records taken during the Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Florida property and setting aside documents protected by claims of legal privilege. Cannon on Saturday said it was her “preliminary intent” to appoint such a person but also gave the Justice Department an opportunity to respond.
On Monday, the department said it had already completed its review of potentially privileged documents and identified a “limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.”
In a separate development, the Trump legal team has grown with the addition of another attorney. Chris Kise, Florida’s former solicitor general, has joined the team of lawyers representing Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss the move by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Kise did not return messages seeking comment.
• Colvin and Balsamo reported from New York.
Source:Washington Times
