A U.S. district judge has ruled in favor of applying the "crime fraud" exception in the special counsel probe of former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, allowing prosecutors to bypass attorney-client privilege protections for Trump's lawyer, Evan Corcoran.
Following this decision, the U.S. DC Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered Corcoran to testify before the grand jury and provide additional documentation related to the former president.
Judge Beryl Howell's ruling, while not determining Trump's guilt, allows for Corcoran to be compelled to testify. Trump's legal team has appealed the decision, but the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has stayed the ruling. Both sides have filed briefs to the appeals court on an accelerated schedule.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on the case, and Corcoran has not responded to requests for comment.
Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is investigating Trump's handling of classified documents and his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Previously, Corcoran had instructed another Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, to sign a statement asserting that a diligent search for classified documents had turned up no additional material. However, the FBI later discovered around 100 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
With the announcement from the panel of three judges in the appeals court, the special counsel investigation gains momentum in its pursuit of evidence that could make or break a federal criminal case against Trump. The Justice Department has successfully argued that there is sufficient evidence of Trump's interactions with Corcoran being part of a possible crime to justify piercing the confidentiality of their conversations.
The documents in question include Corcoran's handwritten notes and transcribed verbal notes concerning his representation of Trump in the Mar-a-Lago probe. Corcoran had previously testified but declined to answer some questions, citing attorney-client privilege. The full extent of what Corcoran's testimony and documents might reveal remains unclear.
