Justice Dept. asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case.

[onenote]

Source: Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/08/trump-contempt-mar-a-lago-records/


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/08/trump-contempt-mar-a-lago-records/

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Interestingly, DOJ brought this case in DC, not Florida.

[William Seger]

1. It's paywalled; could you provide a couple paragraphs? (nt)

[BumRushDaShow]

3. I added some excerpts and a no paywall link here --

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3005203

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Here is the article excerpt

Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case

By Spencer S. Hsu, Josh Dawsey, Jacqueline Alemany, Devlin Barrett and Rosalind S. Helderman
 December 8, 2022 at 4:25 p.m. EST


Prosecutors have urged a federal judge to hold Donald Trump’s office in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a May subpoena to return all classified documents in his possession, according to people familiar with the matter — a sign of how contentious the private talks have become over whether the former president still holds any secret papers.

In recent days, Justice Department lawyers have asked U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell to hold Trump’s office in contempt, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sealed court proceedings. But the judge has not yet held a hearing or ruled on the request, they said.

The request came after months of mounting frustration from the Justice Department with Trump’s team — frustration that spiked in June after the former president’s lawyers provided assurances that a diligent search had been conducted for classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago Club and residence. But the FBI amassed evidence suggesting — and later confirmed through a court-authorized search — that many more remained.

One of the key areas of disagreement centers on the Trump legal team’s repeated refusal to designate a custodian of records to sign a document attesting that all classified materials have been returned to the federal government, according to two of these people. The Justice Department has repeatedly sought an unequivocal sworn written assurance from Trump’s team that all such documents have been returned, and Trump’s team has been unwilling to designate a custodian of records to sign such a statement while also giving assurances that they have handed documents back.

(snip)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1014&pid=3005201

Also no paywall link.

[maxsolomon]

5. Seems a reasonable ask.

Especially considering they JUST FOUND more Classified Docs (or at least folders).

[riversedge]

6. Thanks for paragraphs of article.

[LudwigPastorius]

11. Trump's lawyers, in this case...

Trump's CEO and corporate officers, in the Trump Org. fraud case...

God, I wish somebody'd go after the crime boss himself.

[TheRickles]

4. What would be the penalty if he and his team are held to be in contempt?

[moniss]

9. Some of the lawyers here

might be able to help as to whether this is a civil or criminal case. That might make a difference. The lawyers being held in contempt is a matter between the court and the lawyers unless a showing is made that the Orange Ruski himself is standing in the way of the declaration. My guess would be that the lawyers cannot get an assurance verbal or written from the Orange Ruski and so they do not wish to put their necks on the line only to have them chopped later.

[Major Nikon]

15. You can tell he's writing their public statements

Calling it a "witch hunt" is beyond fucking stupid when the national archives tried repeatedly for months to retrieve them and yet they still refused to hand them over even after they were subpoenaed. Not only is this the exact opposite of a witch hunt, it's a level of tolerance of Trump's blatant and unrepentant illegal behavior that would have not been tolerated of anyone else in the world.

[gab13by13]

10. Not a lawyer

but I heard Barbara McQuade say it would be a daily fine.

[TheRickles]

14. So a good fundraising opportunity then.

[Mr.Bill]

7. Will Trump's "team" or "office"

have to go to jail or will it be like the Trump "corporation" and just get a fine that will never be paid?

[progressoid]

13. The latter.

[Botany]

8. F.A. and F.O.

[AmBlue]

12. Why Trump's TEAM?

And not TRUMP? Can ANYONE ever muster the balls to actually get to the heart of the matter??

Geez... enough already.

[onenote]

17. Because the original subpoena was directed to the Custodian of Records of the Office of Donald Trump

Which was the legally proper way to proceed. Despite what you may think, the DOJ knows what its doing.

[Duppers]

18. Zactly.

[Fullduplexxx]

16. hold Donald Trump's office in contempt of court ... his office. whata fkg joke

Why contempt? just throw the office in jail . I'm sure the office is just shitting it's hallways over your threat ..

[onenote]

19. Uh, do you really think that's how it works?

Corporate entities (which would include the "Office of President Trump" ) can be and are held in contempt. When that happens, the courts will impose the contempt penalty, including daily fines or even imprisonment, on those who are legally responsible for the conduct of the entities, affairs because a command to a corporate entity is in effect a command to those who are officially responsible for the conduct of its affairs.

[TeamProg]

20. The government's request for a finding of contempt underscores the fundamental distrust

Trump’s side has taken the position that such a request is unreasonable — that no lawyer could sign such a blanket certification in good faith or advise any client to do so, as opposed to attesting that a search of a given location has been completed in good faith. Some of Trump’s lawyers are also wary of making any claim under oath based on Trump’s word alone, two people familiar with the matter said.

The government’s request for a finding of contempt underscores the fundamental distrust that has existed since the spring between the government trying to retrieve sensitive documents and a former president whose responses have proved untrustworthy. That distrust has led to a legal impasse in sealed papers over what constitutes a complete search for classified papers.

When the government first issued a subpoena in May for any documents with classified markings, the official recipient of that subpoena was the office of the former president’s custodian of records — a role Trump’s team ultimately told the government was held by attorney Christina Bobb.

In June, Bobb signed an attestation that a diligent search had been conducted for any such material, but the FBI collected convincing evidence that was not the case. The government received a court-authorized search warrant in August, which turned up 103 more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago that had not been turned over in response to the subpoena.

But after months of back-and-forth, the core question has still not been answered to the Justice Department’s satisfaction: Are there any more classified items still in the former president’s possession? Prosecutors, having been burned before by empty promises, now want unqualified vows from someone in the official role of the custodian of records that there are no more classified skeletons in any of Trump’s closets.

Prosecutors have asked the judge to find Trump’s side in contempt as long as none of his advisers are willing to assume the role of custodian of records responsible for a complete answer to the question, these people said. In recent months, Bobb has publicly said she is not doing legal work related to the documents case but only advising Trump’s PAC on election issues.

If the judge were to agree, the most likely scenario would be a daily fine until the demands of the contempt motion are met. How large of a fine, or who would be forced to pay it, would be up to the judge.

[orangecrush]

21. KICK

[AllaN01Bear]

22. id love to see him hauled in front of the grand jury in orange .

[republianmushroom]

23. Delay, stall, this is not new

"request came after months of mounting frustration from the Justice Department with the former president’s lawyers"
22 months and counting DoJ

[NullTuples]

24. Is there a reason they aren't getting a warrant to search all his US properties?

Soon it will have been three years since he left office with those papers. One would think time would be important when it comes to gathering evidence.

[onenote]

25. Presumably because they would need to show probable cause

And the fact that they found documents at one location is not sufficient to justify a search at every other property.

[NullTuples]

26. Except for the new documents found in the storage facility that is not Mar A Lago...

[EndlessWire]

27. Wut? Please elaborate. n/t

[NullTuples]

29. More classified docs found in what I feel may be a ruse.

"A law firm hired by former President Donald Trump found at least two additional classified documents in a storage unit of his belongings in Florida, according to government emails first reported by the Washington Post.

The documents were found as part of an additional search to fully comply with a subpoena issued by the Department of Justice in May, according to emails from the General Services Administration.

In addition to the search at West Palm Beach, Florida, the outside legal team hired by Trump also searched his properties in Bedminster, New Jersey, as well as Trump Tower in New York, according to the emails obtained by the Post. Trump's lawyers conducted the search at the government-run facility around Thanksgiving, according to the New York Times."

That last bit is key - it's like he's saying, "no need for you to search Bedminster or Trump Tower, I already did and found nothing. Oh, but I found these two other documents stored with stuff from way before I was President, in an old storage facility whatever that means".


https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/classified-docs-found-trump-storage-unit-independent-search-1234643286/

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-government-documents-florida-found-storage-unit-2022-12?amp

[EndlessWire]

30. Thank you

Yeah, the whole thing is suspicious. I knew he had his own properties searched, and that the FBI declined to participate. But, I hadn't read that they found anything. Thank you for the links.

I think that the DOJ is jockeying for a massive search of everything Trump has. I can't see how finding two more docs actually helps Trump; if anything, I think it would lend support for a mega search warrant.

What in the world were two Classified docs doing in some Trump storage unit? One that they claim Trump never set foot in. I think it would be easy for the FBI to discover who has been in that unit. So, either they were planted, or turned over by Trump as a red herring, or the docs migrated from the WH to the unit...either way, it shows a blatant disregard for national security.

I think that the search by his own people is weird but indicative of desperation by Trump, as none of his lawyers will sign off as "Custodian of the Records." The last one wisely quit. She got burned and probably has legal jeopardy now, so yeah, who would be that foolish among his minions?

And now that even more docs were found, there is probably even more refusal to stand in front of the wall on tRump's behalf. Maybe ten million, but not three.

I think this is all an attempt to head off a search warrant. I understand that the FBI has a rule that kept them from participating, but it does seem like that is a strategic move of importance. Now they can ask a judge for a search of wherever they want to go.

This is more than "mismanagement" of national security docs.

Trump was the worst mistake they ever made--I don't include myself, because I voted for Hillary, one of the most qualified candidates we ever had. And, now the most unqualified person there ever was is back to run again. Good Gawd Almighty, what a world.

[SuperCoder]

28. So...when are we moving to arrest?

Or are we just gonna constantly twiddle our thumbs with contempt while they ignore it and do as they please anyway?