- Manhattan proceedings abruptly postponed on Wednesday
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Shifting the focus for a second to another investigation Donald Trump is wrapped up in, a federal appeals panel yesterday turned down his attempt to stop his attorney Evan Corcoran from turning over documents and testifying before a grand jury investigating the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith, who is handling that investigation as well as the inquiry into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, had won a court ruling last week allowing Corcoran’s testimony, which Trump challenged in the petition rejected by the US appeals court for the DC circuit yesterday.
In losing the appeal – a major defeat for Trump – Corcoran must provide additional testimony and produce documents to the grand jury hearing evidence about Trump’s potential unauthorized retention of national security materials at Mar-a-Lago – and possible obstruction of justice.
The obstruction part of the investigation is centered on Trump’s incomplete compliance with a subpoena in May that demanded the return of any classified-marked documents in his possession. That was after documents he returned earlier to the National Archives included 200 that were classified.
In June, Corcoran searched Mar-a-Lago and produced about 30 documents with classified markings to the justice department, and had another Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, sign a certification that attested to compliance with the subpoena “based on the information provided to me”.
But, according to court filings, the justice department developed evidence that more documents that were marked as classified remained at the resort, along with “evidence of obstruction”. And when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, they found 101 such documents in a storage room and in Trump’s office.TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew is set to be grilled by the House energy and commerce committee beginning at 10am eastern time, as Washington edges closer to an outright ban on the popular app.
The US Senate will continue working on legislation to repeal the legal authorizations for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 1991 Gulf war.
Happy 13th birthday to the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Joe Biden will celebrate the occasion at the White House at 1pm, alongside Kamala Harris.
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