Lawyers for former President Donald Trump met with Justice Department prosecutors on Monday as a special counsel nears a decision on whether to charge Trump with mishandling classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate last year.
The 76-year-old Trump’s legal team — attorneys John Rowley, James Trusty and Lindsey Halligan — spent close to two hours at DOJ headquarters in Washington two weeks after requesting a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland to address alleged “misconduct and overreach” by the special counsel, Jack Smith.
According to the Washington Post, the trio were joined by Smith — but neither Garland nor his top deputy, Lisa Monaco, were present.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment.
A Trump spokesperson had told The Post last week that the lawyers planned to share with Garland “specific examples of prosecutorial misconduct and overreach.”
“Our hope is that he will understand that the right thing to do is close his file on this matter and allow the presidential campaign to move forward without interference,” the spokesperson said at the time.
After the meeting ended, Trump posted on Truth Social: “HOW CAN DOJ POSSIBLY CHARGE ME, WHO DID NOTHING WRONG, WHEN NO OTHER PRESIDENT’S [sic] WERE CHARGED, WHEN JOE BIDEN WON’T BE CHARGED FOR ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT HE HAS 1,850 BOXES, MUCH OF IT CLASSIFIED, AND SOME DATING BACK TO HIS SENATE DAY WHEN EVEN DEMOCRAT SENATORS ARE SHOCKED. ALSO, PRESIDENT CLINTON HAD DOCUMENTS, AND WON IN COURT. CROOKED HILLARY DELETED 33,000 EMAILS, MANY CLASSIFIED, AND WASN’T EVEN CLOSE TO BEING CHARGED! ONLY TRUMP – THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
Smith is reportedly “wrapping up” his criminal investigation into Trump’s retention of hundreds of classified documents that were taken to the Palm Beach, Fla. resort after he left office in January 2021. CBS News, which first reported on Monday’s meeting, also said that a decision on charges is imminent, citing sources familiar with the investigation.
The FBI seized many of the documents last August after Trump failed to hand over the files as part of a dispute with the National Archives and Records Administration.
That delay may lead to a charge of obstruction of justice against the former president.
Smith is also digging into allegations that Trump was recorded in the summer of 2021 admitting he had some classified documents that concerned a US military plan to invade Iran.
The Justice Department last week chose not to charge former Vice President Mike Pence after classified documents were found at his Indiana home this past January.
President Biden, 80, is also facing a special counsel investigation for having allegedly mishandled classified information.
Pence, who will announce his campaign for president on Wednesday, voluntarily handed the sensitive material over to the bureau following the seizure of classified material from Biden’s Delaware home and a former think tank office the president used.
Agents returned the following month and retrieved an additional classified document. Pence has said he takes “full responsibility” for any errors.
Smith is also investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his potential role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
FBI agents seized Biden’s documents — some of which were labeled “top secret” and involved Iran and Ukraine — from his Wilmington garage and other locations within his home in December.
Biden has maintained there is nothing to the allegations and has referred to the documents as “stray papers.”
Garland appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur in January to oversee the probe into Biden’s handling of the information.
As the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, Trump was charged earlier this year for allegedly falsifying business records before the 2016 election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hit Trump with 34 felony counts of concealing “hush money” payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal through his former legal fixer Michael Cohen.