According to The Hill, to overcome the shield of attorney-client privilege, prosecutors alleged in writing to the judge that the former president used his attorney in furtherance of a crime or fraud, according to one source.
To this end, those involved in the probe sought a judge’s approval in a sealed filing to invoke the criminal fraud exception.
The move represents the most aggressive yet by special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation. The case and filing remain under seal.
It was unclear on Tuesday whether the Justice Department has developed new evidence to argue there was criminal planning, or whether prosecutors are resting on the same arguments made when prosecutors sought a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago last year.
At that time, they had cause to believe federal records were moved or concealed within the beach club, and they have been investigating both mishandling of national security records and obstruction of justice.
Corcoran turned over 30 documents to federal prosecutors and drafted a statement in June that attested Trump´s team had done a diligent search and there were no more classified documents at Trump´s Florida house.
Corcoran recently appeared before the grand jury for roughly four hours and is the third attorney to testify before the grand jury. He has not yet appeared a second time, and it remains to be seen if he ultimately does.
While campaigning for being re-elected in 2024, Trump is also DOJ´s major issue for his involvement in Jan. 6 insurrection, when a mob of supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
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