Biden Justice Department asks judge to contempt Trump’s legal team for failing to fully comply with subpoena to turn over all classified documents
- Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to despise Trump’s office
- If the judge agrees, a daily fine must be paid until Trump’s team fully complies
- The DOJ has subpoenaed Trump for all government documents in his possession
- His team searched the Prime Minister, Trump Tower and the storage unit from the outside
- US District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell is overseeing the sealed lawsuit
Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to keep Donald Trump’s office in contempt of court for failing to properly fulfill the terms of a subpoena ordering the return of all classified documents.
Justice Department attorneys are asking U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell to impose sanctions, according to sources familiar with the contents of a sealed file, indicating growing frustration over private talks intended to ensure the former president handed over all the papers.
However, The Washington Post reported that the judge is yet to hold a hearing on the matter.
A day earlier, it emerged that Trump attorneys had uncovered yet more classified government materials that had been removed from the White House — this time in a storage unit in South Florida that housed materials shipped in bulk from the White House .
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team faces contempt of court as courtroom arguments continue over the return of the President’s paperwork
An FBI search in Mar-a-Lago in August uncovered 100 documents marked as classified
A contempt order could include a daily fine that would have to be paid until the judge rules Trump’s team properly complied with the subpoena.
The request for the judge to intervene reportedly follows the Justice Department’s growing frustration with Trump’s team.
In June, the former president’s attorneys said they had conducted a diligent search of White House records.
Weeks later, FBI agents searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, where they found 18 documents marked Top Secret, 54 marked Secret, 31 documents marked Confidential, and 11,179 government documents or photos that had no classified markings.
Since then, both sides have been arguing about how to handle the case. Sources told the newspaper that Trump’s legal team has refused to appoint a records manager who would confirm that all classified materials were returned.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said the former president’s attorneys continued to work with the Justice Department.
“This is a political witch hunt the likes of which this country has never seen,” he told the Washington Post.
The President maintains an office in his own club in Florida
Details of the latest twist emerged a day after news that more classified material had been found at a Trump property.
Trump attorneys conducted an inventory of a storage unit in Florida after being asked in court to allege that Trump had responded to a government subpoena requesting government-property documents.
That process led them to the storage unit that was the destination for £3,000 of items being shipped from Virginia to Florida by Trump aides and government employees, according to the Washington Post.
“It was suits and swords and wrestling belts and all kinds of things,” a person familiar with the unit told the newspaper. “As far as I know, he’s never been to this storage unit. I don’t think anyone in the Trump world could tell you what’s in that storage unit.