If you wanted to know what's holding DOJ up in the Mar-a-lago docs probe

[bigtree]

...the answer might be in what's going down with Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran

An appeals court panel today temporarily blocked U.S. Judge Beryl Howell’s “crime-fraud” order against Trump attorney Evan Corcoran that compelled him to testify to the grand jury and turn over his phones and emails, but the panel set a midnight deadline for him to tell the court exactly what documents of communications he's claiming are privileged.

DOJ has until 6am to respond, reflecting the urgency which the appeals court views their decision, either on national security concerns, or maybe they just got tired of Trump people delaying with unsupportable claims.

The importance of this can't be overstated, Corcoran is the Trump lawyer who drafted the letter that Cristine Bobb signed saying that all documents at Mar-a-Lago had been returned. Bobb reportedly added language to the letter that all records had been returned “based upon the information that has been provided to me.”

Either they took it on themselves to lie, or or were told a lie by Trump. Either they're guilty of obstruction of a federal investigation, or Trump is.

You'd think Corcoran would leave Trump to twist in the wind, and maybe he has, but he appears to still work for Trump. Or does he?

Today, ABC reported that behind Judge Howell's order was an assertion by the Special Prosecutor that it was, in fact, Trump who had 'misled' his lawyers:

"Prosecutors in the special counsel's office have presented compelling preliminary evidence that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office, a former top federal judge wrote Friday in a sealed filing, according to sources who described its contents to ABC News.

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," according to the sources, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced."

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. Those records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings. (lordy, there are tapes!)

In 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...

...this looks like the docs case, in a nutshell.

[spooky3]

1. The timeline is really stunning. A guest on MSNBC said

It appears the court is trying to stop the pattern of TFG of using stall tactics. Great, but they have imposed a rough deadline on the good guys too.

[onenote]

2. I thought it was Bobb, not Corcoran that signed the statement about the documents

Bobb apparently was relying on what she was told by Corcoran who either knew it was untrue or was relying on information from the Trump camp, possibly Trump himself.

[bigtree]

3. you're right, Corcoran was reported to have been the attorney who drafted the letter

Hill:

Corcoran has been representing Trump in his dealings with the Justice Department for the bulk of the time the department has sought the return of the documents.

The repeated attempts to secure them included a June subpoena for the records, with Cororan then handing over a folder with some 38 documents.

Corcoran is also reported to have been the attorney who drafted a letter certifying that all remaining records with classified markings at Mar-a-Lago had been returned, but the letter was ultimately signed by another attorney, Christina Bobb. She reportedly insisted on adding language that said all records had been returned “based upon the information that has been provided to me.”

...thanks for that.

[H2O Man]

4. Recommended.

Thank you for this!

[C Moon]

5. It's been so many years, so many crimes, and so many "other shoe drops"...

please excuse my negativity, but I'll no longer believe any guesswork.
It has always come to nothing.
My guesswork: tfg will be in the 2024 election—he's got more connections, is more comfortable with lying and has a louder mouth than desatan.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Yep. I'm with you here.

Nothing is happening. Not a thing.

[NullTuples]

7. I pine for the days when news media mostly reported news that had happened, and scheduled events.

Now its an endless fire hose stream of what might happen, what could happen and wouldn't it be exciting/scary/great if this happened.

[C Moon]

8. That's a great point!

[tanyev]

12. +1. An endless stream of inside baseball.

It's an opportunity to show off how "knowledgeable" and well-connected THEY are.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. The DC Circuit will hear this issue on a very very tight briefing schedule

This briefing schedule is unreal

Link to tweet

[bigtree]

10. consider that courts normally give deference to grand juries

...not wanting to slow or hinder that process, they will expedite decisions, especially ones as clear-cut as the criminality declared by the prosecution.

Sources: Special counsel claims Trump deliberately misled his attorneys about classified documents, judge wrote
https://abcnews.go.com/US/sources-special-counsel-claims-trump-deliberately-misled-attorneys/story?id=98024191

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. There were some filings last night/early morning

Link to tweet

[Chakaconcarne]

13. Oh, I thought I heard here that it was Garland holding up the investigation