By Ken Dilanian and Zoë Richards; Edited by News Gate Team
A source told NBC News that special counsel Jack Smith has asked a judge to allow prosecutors to invoke the “crime fraud” exception and sidestep attorney-client privilege.
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Im
According to a source familiar with the situation, the special counsel looking into Donald Trump’s handling of secret documents is attempting to compel a previous president’s attorney to testify before a grand jury.
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According to the source, prosecutors claim in a sealed document that they have proof that some of Trump’s interactions with the lawyer were used to promote a crime.
The source claimed that special counsel Jack Smith has asked a judge to permit prosecutors to use what is known as the crime-fraud exception, which would let them avoid protections provided to Trump attorney Evan Corcoran through attorney-client privilege, as a sign of an aggressive new legal strategy, first reported by The New York Times.
The insider declined to specify which inquiries Corcoran is being compelled to respond to by the government.
Corcoran and a Trump official have been contacted by NBC News for comment.
After determining that a certification signed by Trump’s custodian of record, which claimed all sensitive data had been returned, was false, FBI agents with a warrant searched his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in August to collect classified material.
According to an earlier report from NBC News, Christina Bobb, who served as Trump’s official custodian at the time, told investigators that Corcoran had written a statement for her to sign certifying that all sensitive records in Trump’s possession had been turned over to the government.
Trump, who announced his third run for president in November, has referred to the search for secret papers as a “witch hunt,” accusing Democrats of using the Justice Department as a weapon against him.
President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and a workplace he used in Washington, DC, during the Trump administration were both found to contain Obama-era sensitive documents, according to a January statement from the Justice Department.
In addition to overseeing an inquiry into Trump’s role in the violence on January 6, 2021, Smith’s office has subpoenaed members of the Trump administration, including former national security adviser Robert O’Brien.
Last week, Smith issued a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence. A source close to Pence said Tuesday that he plans to fight the subpoena.
By Ken Dilanian and Zoë Richards; Edited by News Gate Team
