According to a former federal judge who leaked the contents of a sealed filing to ABC News on Tuesday, the Special Counsel investigation’s prosecutors have presented evidence that former President Donald Trump “knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office.”
“U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who on Friday stepped down as the D.C. district court’s chief judge, wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office had made a ‘prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,’” ABC News reported, “and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced.”
Donald Trump has denied misconduct in the sensitive materials matter on many occasions. Tuesday, the former president criticized the news.
“Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team. This disinformation is on par with their breathless Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine and “no-collusion” Mueller speculation, all of which were totally disproven. These leaks are happening because there is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump. The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle. “The real story here, that Fake News ABC SHOULD be reporting on, is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever. “President Trump is the only leader fighting for the Constitution in order to protect the American people from being abused by a crooked system.”
The ABC News report also claimed that Trump was involved in a “criminal scheme.”
“In her sealed filing, Howell ordered that Evan Corcoran, an attorney for Trump, should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege,” the report continued.
“Sources added that Howell also ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump’s alleged ‘criminal scheme,’ echoing prosecutors,” the report noted. “Those records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings.”
As the ABC report noted, “reaching the so-called prima facie standard to pierce Corcoran’s privilege, Howell agreed prosecutors made a sufficient showing that on its face would appear to show Trump committed crimes. The judge made it clear that prosecutors would still need to meet a higher standard of evidence in order to seek charges against Trump, and more still to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“It is a lower hurdle, but it is an indication that the government had presented some evidence and allegation that they had evidence that met the elements of a crime,” former Justice Dept. attorney Brandon Van Grack told ABC News.
The announcement comes as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg prepares to prosecute and arrest former President Donald Trump before a grand jury. The Secret Service is ready to hand up President Trump to authorities. The city of New York has recruited hundreds of police officers armed with riot gear, but so far rallies in support of Donald Trump have been quiet and nonviolent.