Trump lawyer testified to grand jury in December in categorized paperwork probe By Reuters

By Jacqueline Thomsen

(Reuters) – An legal professional for former U.S. President Donald Trump voluntarily testified earlier than a Washington, D.C., federal grand jury in December 2022 on efforts to search out any remaining categorized paperwork at Trump’s properties, the lawyer mentioned on Thursday.

Legal professional Tim Parlatore testified as a part of a federal prison investigation into categorized paperwork retained at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Parlatore informed Reuters that he appeared earlier than the grand jury to elucidate to them “every thing we did to conform” with a subpoena in search of any categorized paperwork nonetheless in Trump’s possession after he left workplace.

Parlatore mentioned he organized searches of Trump’s properties “to make sure full and authorized compliance” with the subpoena for the paperwork. He additionally alleged he witnessed prosecutorial misconduct as he appeared earlier than the grand jury. ABC Information first reported on Parlatore’s grand jury look.

When requested for a remark, a spokesperson for Trump directed Reuters to Parlatore’s remarks. A spokesperson for particular counsel Jack Smith, who’s overseeing the categorized paperwork investigation, didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

The U.S. Justice Division mentioned in court docket filings in 2022 that Trump was below investigation for his retention of delicate authorities data after leaving workplace in January 2021, together with whether or not he violated the Espionage Act that makes it against the law to launch data dangerous to nationwide safety.

Investigators had been additionally trying into potential illegal obstruction of the probe, the division mentioned on the time.

FBI brokers seized 1000’s of presidency data, some marked as extremely categorized, from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort throughout a court-approved search on Aug. 8.

Trump later sued in August to hunt the appointment of third-party arbiter, who would guarantee no privileged paperwork had been being reviewed by prosecutors. A federal appeals court docket in December dismissed the lawsuit and ended the surface evaluate, which federal investigators mentioned was delaying their work.

Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland in November 2022 appointed Smith to supervise the federal probes involving Trump after he introduced he would run for the presidency in 2024.