Sealed hearing: DOJ asks judge to compel answers from Trump lawyer under 'crime-fraud exemption'

10 March 2023

Prosecutors on Thursday argued Evan Cocoran, a lawyer for former president Donald Trump, should “answer questions before a grand jury over objections of attorney-client privilege” in the ongoing classified documents case, the Guardian reports.

The probe is part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. CNN reports Corcoran previously "declined to answer some questions that would have divulged his advice to Trump and their conversations, citing attorney-client privilege.”

Per the Guardian, In a sealed hearing before chief US district judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell, federal prosecutors argued Trump used guidance from Corcoran “to obstruct the classified-marked documents investigation,” and should therefore be compelled to answer the questions under the “crime-fraud exception.”

According to the report, prosecutors “have been seeking to invoke the so-called crime-fraud exception that allows them to compel testimony about communications between an attorney and a client when they have evidence to suggest legal advice was used in furtherance of a crime.”

The Guardian report confirms a report from the New York Times last month noting U.S. prosecutors “are seeking to pierce assertions of attorney-client privilege and compel one of [Trump’s] lawyers to answer more questions before a grand jury.”

The Times, in February, reported:

Mr. Corcoran recently appeared before a grand jury in Federal District Court in Washington and is believed to have asserted attorney-client privilege on behalf of Mr. Trump in refusing to answer certain questions related to his representation in the documents investigation, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Per the Guardian, prosecutors on Thursday told Judge Howell they "had reason to believe that legal advice to Trump from his lawyer Evan Corcoran was used by Trump to obstruct the classified-marked documents investigation.”

As CNN reports, the hearing ended without a ruling from Howell.

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