Donald Trump Grand Jury in Classified Documents Case Moving Forward – You may know that former President Donald Trump is being investigated for his role in the classified document mishandling saga.
Still, there is a new development in the case.
A federal grand jury has convened, and Trump’s lawyers have been questioned.
Three attorneys have appeared in front of the grand jury as part of the special counsel investigation.
The Three Lawyers Have Been Identified
The Guardian was supplied with information on the matter by two sources who are familiar with the legal proceedings.
According to these individuals, the lawyers are Evan Corcoran, Christina Bobb, and Alina Habba. They have been involved in the classified documents search at Trump’s home.
How Is Alina Habba Embroiled in the Case?
Habba is the most interesting choice to be questioned by the Washington, DC-based grand jury because she is not part of the legal team for the classified document investigation and instead is representing Trump in other civil suits regarding financial impropriety in New York.
It is not clear what information Habba could provide regarding the handling of top-secret materials.
Investigating How the Donald Trump Documents Search Was Conducted
Corcoran was leading the Trump legal team and helped craft responses to the Department of Justice over the summer.
Donald Trump was subpoenaed for classified documents at that point, and Corcoran searched Mar-a-Lago. The special counsel wants to know where in the resort Corcoran looked for the secret papers.
More Details Emerge About Testimony from Evan Corcoran
On February 14, the DOJ wanted to hear more testimony from Corcoran and filed a motion to force him to answer all questions and provide more information to the special counsel to better inform the grand jury.
Corcoran had also written a document that Bobb signed declaring that the residence had been searched and that they complied with the subpoena.
How Diligent Was the Search?
Bobb has been questioned about what she learned from the Mar-a-Lago search last summer, The Guardian said. She assisted with a “diligent search” at the premises that included Trump’s private office.
When the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August they found hundreds of pages of classified material.
Lawyers’ Testimony Could Be Critical to the Case
This calls into question the accuracy of the attorney’s testimony about the searches they conducted. Were they completely thorough with the search? Are they hiding anything?
These are questions the special counsel is pondering as its presents its case to the grand jury based on testimony from Corcoran, Bobb, and Hanna.
When Will Trump Be Questioned?
It will be interesting to see who the special counsel Jack Smith hears from next and if this leads to an eventual subpoena for Donald Trump to appear in front of the grand jury too. Trump’s attorneys were forced to tell the truth about their searches. If they did not find any classified documents and the FBI did, investigators will want to collect information about what they knew and when they knew it. This could make Trump nervous that the legal walls are closing in on him regarding his alleged handling of the secret papers.
The special counsel could also find the attorneys are conspiring to obstruct justice in the case and that they would not be able to declare attorney-client privilege in the matter. So, they have to balance their efforts to protect and defend Trump from eventual charges and their duties to answer questions from the special counsel as it relates to the grand jury.
This is a significant development for the case, and we will likely revisit the matter as events proceed.
Author Expertise and Experience: Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.
