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Trump lawyers meet with DOJ, could signal 'imminent' indictment [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-06-05  

CBS News and other outlets are now reporting that multiple attorneys of Donald Trump were seen entering the Justice Department today for what appears to be a meeting related to special counsel Jack Smith's probe of government documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and club.

Trump's legal team had previously issued a public demand that Attorney General Merrick Garland meet with them so that they could air their grievances about the investigation being an "injustice" being perpetrated "unfairly." CNN reports that Garland is not believed to be in the meeting.

One of the key grievances for Trump's legal team has been the special counsel's successful use of the so-called crime-fraud exception to generally protected attorney-client communications to obtain documents and testimony from Trump's lawyers, an exception only granted by courts when they are satisfied that "sufficient" evidence exists to show that the client or attorney committed criminal acts during those interactions.

In the wake of those court rulings, Trump's legal team has seen resignations and infighting. Smith is allegedly nearing the end of his investigation, and with the discovery of an audio recording in which Trump appears to boast about a particular highly classified document that has yet to be found by investigators, it's looking increasingly unlikely that the case can be closed without new indictments against Trump.

While Trump's lawyers may be meeting at the Justice Department for what is likely to be an entirely futile airing of grievances at the supposed "unfairness" of the special counsel's probe, there may be another reason for the meeting. "Defense attorneys sometimes meet with prosecutors when a charging decision is imminent," CNN notes.

In any event, little can come out of the meeting that would be good news for Trump. The Justice Department is well used to defense attorneys mewling about the unfairness with which its investigators pursue potential crimes by their clients, so Trump's team is not likely to find satisfaction there. And the meeting would not likely take place to begin with if the investigators were already leaning toward not charging Trump with crimes.

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We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/5/2173427/-Trump-lawyers-meet-with-DOJ-could-signal-imminent-indictment

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