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When we last checked in on the governments criminal investigation into Donald Trumps handling of classified documents after he left office, things did not appear to be going great for the former guy. For one, we learned last month that the Justice Department had uncovered significant evidence that Trump may have obstructed justice, which the ghost of Richard Nixon will tell you is never a good thing. For another, nearly everyone who works at Mar-a-Lagothe place where he was stashing the majority of the classified docshas been subpoenaed by prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith. And now, according to a new report, the shit has continued to hit the fan.

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The National Archives and Records Administration, according to multiple sources who spoke to CNN, is set to hand over tospecial counsel Jack Smith16 records that show Trump and his top advisers had knowledge of the correct declassification process while he was president. In a letter sent to Trump on Tuesday, NARAs acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall wrote, The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records.

Why is this bad news for the former POTUS? Because ever since the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago last yearand found more than 100 classified documents that were not supposed to be there, and which Team Trump had falsely claimed in a certification had been turned overTrump has claimed that he had the power to declassify them without going through the proper protocols or even mentioning anything to anyone. Hes said this on numerous occasions, but most notably when he told Sean Hannity he could declassify classified documentswith his mind. (Actual quote: There doesnt have to be a process [to declassify], as I understand itif youre the president of the United States you can declassify just by saying its declassified, even by thinking about it. There can be a process but there doesnt have to be.)

More recently, at last weeks disastrous CNN town hall, he falsely claimed to moderator Kaitlan Collins that government procedure allowed him to take whatever he wanted from the White Houseand in doing so, the items in question were automatically declassified.

I had every right to under the Presidential Records Act, Trump told Collins when she asked him why he took documents after he left office. You have the Presidential Records Act. I was there and I took what I took and it gets declassified. (To be clear, that is not how any of this works.) Last year, following the raid, Trump also took to claiming that he had a standing order to declassify documentsbut more than a dozen administration officials said they knew nothing of said standing order, and that such a notion was ludicrous, ridiculous, and a complete fiction.

Anyway, as CNN notes, the 16 records NARA is preparing for Smith may provide critical evidence establishing the former presidents awareness of the declassification process, a key part of thecriminal investigationinto Trumps mishandling of classified documents. The records could also help reveal whether he willfully disregarded what he knew to be clearly established protocols, according to an individual familiar with recent testimony provided to the grand jury by former top Trump officials. Which is probably why, per Walls letter, Trump previously tried to block the special counsel from accessing the 16 documents in question. (In her letter, Wall informed the ex-president that Smiths office has said it is prepared to demonstrate with specificity to a court, why it is likely that the 16 records contain evidence that would be important to the grand jurys investigation.)

The records are set to be handed over on May 24, unless Trump gets a court to block them. And if we know the former guyand we think we dohes quite obviously going to try.

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Report: The National Archives Is Set to Hand Over Damning Evidence in Trumps Classified-Docs Case - Vanity Fair

WASHINGTON (AP) A key lawyer for former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was leaving the legal team, a move that comes as a special counsel investigation into the retention of classified documents shows signs of being in its final stages.

Timothy Parlatore told The Associated Press that his departure had nothing to do with Trump and was not a reflection on his view of the Justice Departments investigation, which he has long called misguided and overly aggressive, or on the strength of the governments evidence. He said he believed he had served Trump well.

Other lawyers, including former Justice Department prosecutor James Trusty, are continuing to represent Trump in Washington investigations.

CNN earlier reported Parlatores departure.

Parlatore has long been a key member of the team representing Trump in an investigation by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith into the possession of hundreds of classified documents at the former presidents Florida home, Mar-a-Lago as well as into possible efforts to obstruct that probe.

A grand jury over the last several months has heard from a broad array of witnesses close to Trump. Federal prosecutors in March questioned another of Trumps lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, before the grand jury after successfully piercing attorney-client privilege. Parlatore testified voluntarily in December about efforts to recover classified documents in response to government demands.

Last month, Parlatore and other lawyers for Trump issued a letter to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, laying out a series of defense arguments of Trump and saying that the Justice Department should be ordered to stand down in its investigation.

Besides the Mar-a-Lago probe, Smith has also been investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with former Vice President Mike Pence among the grand jury witnesses in that probe. Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump in March arising from hush-money payments made to a porn star who said he had an extramarital sexual encounter with her years earlier.

In Georgia, prosecutors in Fulton County are expected to announce in coming months the results of an investigation into attempts to subvert Trumps election loss to President Joe Biden in that state.

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

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Key Trump attorney says he's departing legal team as Mar-a-Lago probe intensifies - The Associated Press

Timothy Parlatore, one of the lawyers representing former President Donald J. Trump in the federal investigations into Mr. Trumps handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, has resigned from the former presidents legal team.

In a brief interview on Wednesday, Mr. Parlatore declined to discuss the specific reasons for his departure, but said it was not related to the merits of either inquiry both of which are being led by a special counsel, Jack Smith. Mr. Parlatore said that he informed Mr. Trump of his decision directly and that he left the legal team on good terms with the former president.

His departure was reported earlier by CNN.

Mr. Parlatores withdrawal from the twin special counsel cases leaves Mr. Trump a lawyer short at a moment when prosecutors under Mr. Smith seem to be nearing the end of their sprawling grand jury investigations and may be approaching a decision about whether to bring charges.

Two other lawyers James Trusty and John Rowley will for now continue to take the lead in representing Mr. Trump in both of the cases.

Mr. Parlatore informed Mr. Trumps team on Monday that he anticipated withdrawing, according to a person familiar with the events.

Since last summer and until recently, Mr. Parlatore played a key role in Mr. Trumps attempts to use attorney-client and executive privilege to limit the scope of the testimony provided by a series of witnesses who appeared in front of grand juries hearing evidence in both of the matters.

Over and over in sealed filings and at closed-door hearings, Mr. Parlatore and his colleagues sought to assert privilege on behalf of Mr. Trump in the hopes of narrowing testimony from top Trump aides like Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff, and former Vice President Mike Pence. But their efforts were almost completely unsuccessful.

At one point, Mr. Parlatore himself was subpoenaed to appear in front of the grand jury investigating the documents case. During his appearance, he answered questions about efforts made by Mr. Trumps legal team to comply with a subpoena issued by the Justice Department last May demanding the return of all classified material in the former presidents possession.

Among the things that Mr. Parlatore said he discussed with the grand jury were searches ordered by a judge in response to a push from the Justice Department that he oversaw at the end of last year of several properties belonging to Mr. Trump, including Trump Tower in New York; Mr. Trumps golf club in Bedminster, N.J.; and a storage site in West Palm Beach, Fla. During the search of the storage site, investigators found at least two more documents with classified markings.

Those searches followed a search in August of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trumps private club and residence in Florida, by the F.B.I., which led to the discovery of more than 100 classified documents that had not been returned in response to the earlier subpoena.

Mr. Parlatore was brought on to the legal team by Boris Epshteyn, who had been serving as something of an in-house counsel, hiring and negotiating contracts for lawyers. Mr. Epshteyn has shown a penchant for delivering sunny news to Mr. Trump despite bad circumstances, and for creating a bottleneck for the lawyers in dealing with the client, according to several people familiar with the events.

Last month, Mr. Parlatore wrote a letter to Congress asking lawmakers for help in taking the documents investigation away from prosecutors and giving it to the intelligence community a move that, among other things, would have removed the threat of a criminal indictment against Mr. Trump.

The letter also seemed to preview some of Mr. Trumps potential defenses in the documents case, noting that during his chaotic departure from the White House, aides quickly packed everything into boxes and shipped them to Florida. This hasty process, Mr. Parlatore argued, suggested that White House institutional processes, not intentional decisions by President Trump, were responsible for sensitive material being hauled away.

Last week, Mr. Trump appeared to undercut those assertions on live television, declaring at a CNN town hall event that he knowingly removed government records from the White House and claiming that he was allowed to take anything he wanted with him as his personal property.

I took the documents, he said at the event. Im allowed to.

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Trump Lawyer Resigns From Defense Team in Special Counsel Inquiries - The New York Times

Last month, Fani Willisthe Fulton County district attorney investigating Donald Trumps attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Georgiasaid she would announce any possible indictments for the ex-president and the allies who tried to help him steal a second term between July 11 and September 1. Now, she appears to have signaled even more specific timing: the first three weeks of August. Hopefully the former guy hasnt booked any nonrefundable summer travel!

The New York Times reports that, in a letter sent yesterday to 21 Fulton County officials, Willis announced that, due to security concerns surrounding her investigation and the potential criminal charges that could come from it, she will scale back staffing in her office by about 70% and have the majority of people work remotely between July 31 and August 18, when grand juries will be in session. (While a special grand jury spent months hearing evidence in the Trump investigation, Willis must now get approval from a regular grand jury for any possible indictments.) The district attorney noted in the Thursday letter that exceptions to the remote work plan would include my leadership team and all armed investigators. She added that she respectfully request(s) that judges not schedule trials and in-person hearings during the weeks beginning Monday, Aug. 7, and Monday, Aug. 14. As the Times notes, the moves suggest thatWillisis expecting a grand jury to unseal indictments during that time period. The outlet also noted that Williss timetable was already pushed back at least once as she negotiated cooperation deals, so, obviously, that could happen again; however, the dates laid out in her most recent letter seem pretty specific.

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For his part, Trumps attorneys are still trying to quash the special grand jurys final report, and get both Willis and the judge presiding over the inquiry thrown off the case. In response to that attempt, Willis wrote in a filing this week that Trump and Co. are not content to follow the ordinary course of the law. They seek to restrain a criminal investigation before any charges are filed or even sought. In February, when asked about the recommendations the special grand jury made re: which individuals should be charged, jury forewomanEmily Kohrstoldthe Timesit was not a short list. Asked whether the ex-president was on it, she added: Youre not going to be shocked. Its not rocket science. Speaking toThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionin March, another jurorsaidof the groups report: A lots gonna come out sooner or later. And its gonna be massive. Its gonna be massive.

Last year, Willis sent a letter to the Atlanta field office of the FBI, requesting a risk assessment of the courthouse in downtown Atlanta and for the bureau to provide protective resources to include intelligence and federal agents, noting that Trump had described her and other prosecutors investigating him as vicious, horrible people during a rally and demanded protests in their cities. Shortly before his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney for a series of hush money payments he made before the 2016 election, Trump called for death and destruction. In another letter, sent to the local sheriff last month, Willis laid out the need for heightened security and preparedness in coming months due to this pending announcement.

Trump typically spends the summer at his New Jersey golf course, which would be less than a three-hour flight, should he need to show up at the courthouse to be arraigned (again).

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Donald Trump May Need to Make Room in His Summer Break for a Georgia Indictment: Report - Vanity Fair

News

By Josh Christenson

May 19, 2023 | 12:36pm

The Atlanta prosecutor leading the probe into former President Donald Trumps alleged efforts to overturn Georgias 2020 election results is expected to announce in August whether criminal charges will be brought.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told staff to work remotely from July 31 to Aug. 18 and has requested judges in a downtown Atlanta courthouse to not schedule trials between Aug. 7 and 14, according to a Thursday letter to county officials obtained by the New York Times.

The moves are seen as signs that a grand jury decision in the sensational case will be announced at that time, paving the way for Willis to prosecute.

Thank you for your consideration and assistance in keeping the Fulton County Judicial Complex safe during this time, Willis wrote in her memo to staff and judges.

Trump, 76, and some members of his 2020 election team could face indictments for conspiracy to commit election fraud or charges related to racketeering in plotting to undermine the 2020 presidential race results.

Recommendations for an indictment were revealed in a special grand jury report delivered to Willis in January and followed by a number of bizarre interviews that the jurys forewoman, Emily Kohrs, gave in February that heavily hintedat Trump being among those the special grand jury recommended for indictment.

The Georgia case requires a second grand jury to consider whether to bring charges.

It is not a short list, Kohrs previously told the Times of the people she expects to be indicted. Youre not going to be shocked. Its not rocket science.

Trump is already facing 34 felony counts from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for allegedly making hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

Willis, 52, told Atlanta-based law enforcement agencies in a letter last month to prepare for significant public reaction to a potential charging decision between July 11 and Sept. 1.

The Democratic Fulton County DA began her probe of the former president and his allies more than two years ago, looking into a phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes to help him beat Joe Biden in the state.

She convened an initial special grand jury for the case that quizzed ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and announced in January that a charging decision was imminent.

Prosecutors in the office also interviewed at least eight fake electors whom Trump allies had gotten to sign a certificate falsely declaring the incumbent president had won Georgia, with each elector being granted immunity.

Giuliani is reportedly in the crosshairs for making false statements before the Georgia Legislature about the 2020 election.

Trumps legal team requested in March that the special grand jury report be thrown out and Willis be removed from the case, saying her investigation involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutors office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation, according to lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg.

On Monday, Willis pushed back on the motion, saying it was procedurally flawed and citing its arguments that lack merit prompting Trumps team to request 21 days to respond to her.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville has yet to weigh in on either request.

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Georgia DA likely to announce Trump indictment decision in August - New York Post