An attorney for former President Donald Trump testified under court order before a federal grand jury Friday regarding Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Trump attorney Evan Corcoran was seen entering a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., at approximately 9 a.m. Friday morning, NBC news reported.
Corcoran had previously claimed attorney-client privilege and refused to answer some questions about his alleged communications with Trump regarding the documents, but U.S. Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court wrote March 17 that Corcoran would be forced to testify. She ordered him to hand over documents tied to the “criminal scheme,” including “handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings,” ABC News reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. (RELATED: Trump Lawyers Scramble To Make Midnight Deadlines In Escalating Battle With DOJ)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 24: Matthew Evan Corcoran, a lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to the E. Barrett Prettyman U. S. District Court House on March 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Howell also wrote that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office had preliminary evidence that Trump knowingly misled his attorneys about the classified documents, ABC News reported.
Trump’s campaign issued a statement Tuesday discrediting the ABC story and Howell.
“Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team,” the statement read. “These leaks are happening because there is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump.”
Corcoran testified in January about events that occurred before the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, and using a June statement, testified Trump’s team had done a “diligent search” of the boxes that were moved from the White House.
The FBI then discovered hundreds of government documents in Mar-a-Lago in August, including classified documents.
Smith’s team wants to ask Corcoran whether Trump knew about the claim of the “diligent search,” and if the former president himself approved the statement to be issued to the government, ABC News reported.