{"id":1904193,"date":"2023-03-24T04:12:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T08:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-other-grand-jury-jack-smiths-mar-a-lago-investigation-moves-forward\/"},"modified":"2023-03-24T04:14:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T08:14:11","slug":"the-other-grand-jury-jack-smiths-mar-a-lago-investigation-moves-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-other-grand-jury-jack-smiths-mar-a-lago-investigation-moves-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"The other grand jury: Jack Smith\u2019s Mar-a-Lago investigation moves forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-other-grand-jury-jack-smiths-mar-a-lago-investigation-moves-forward%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1904193&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"RichTextArticleBody-body\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\">\n<div id=\"Brid_79492491\" class=\"brid\" style=\"width:16; height:9;\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\">                <meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Democrats ready to charge ahead as possible Trump indictment looms\">               <meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Democrats have a reputation for hand-wringing, but party strategists say a possible indictment of former President Donald Trump is not the time to do so. Democrats are concerned a New York state grand jury indicting Trump for covering up hush money payments his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 in exchange for her silence about their alleged affair will overshadow or jeopardize other investigations being conducted by Georgia state prosecutors and federal authorities, specifically the inquiries into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. There are also worries Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will overcomplicate the case by alleging a $130,000 six-year-old felony was committed and by relying on convicted liar Cohen after his federal counterparts declined to prosecute.\">               <meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT1M8S\">               <meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2023-03-22 13:39:56\">               <meta itemprop=\"thumbnailURL\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.brid.tv\/live\/partners\/19383\/snapshot\/1267108_th_641b0576ac166_1679492470.jpg\">               <meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.brid.tv\/live\/partners\/19383\/sd\/1267108.mp4\">              <\/div>\n<p>               <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ \"div\": \"Brid_79492491\", \"obj\": {\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"16\",\"height\":\"9\",\"video\":\"1267108\"} }); <\/script>               <script type=\"text\/javascript\" async src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ArticlePage-articleBody-firstLetter\">W<\/span>ith much of the attention focused on a possible Manhattan grand jury indictment, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-smith\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">special counsel Jack Smith<\/a> has been aggressively moving forward in his investigation into <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">former President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> possession of <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/classified-documents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">classified records<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Last week, then-Chief Judge Beryl Howell reportedly ruled in a sealed order that Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran&#8217;s assertion of attorney-client privilege with the former president could be overruled. That means he could be forced to answer questions in front of a grand jury in the nation\u2019s capital about the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mar-a-lago\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mar-a-Lago classified documents saga<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/house-gop-expands-investigation-into-manhattan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HOUSE GOP EXPANDS INVESTIGATIONS INTO MANHATTAN DA ALVIN BRAGG<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>The ruling, reportedly upheld in a <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67057933\/in-re-sealed-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sealed ruling<\/a> by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this week, was prompted by efforts from Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Merrick Garland<\/a> late last year. <\/p>\n<p>Smith served under Attorney General Eric Holder during the Obama administration, leading the DOJ&#8217;s Public Integrity Unit from 2010 to 2015. Smith led a team of 30 prosecutors in <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/special-counsel-jack-smith-war-crimes-garland-investigate-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conducting public corruption cases throughout the United States<\/a><\/u>, including a <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/special-counsel-jack-smith-mixed-history-pursuing-politicians\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mixed track record of going after high-profile politicians<\/a><\/u>. He also inserted the DOJ into what would become <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/trump-special-counsel-jack-smith-involved-lois-lerner-irs-scandal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Lois Lerner IRS scandal<\/a><\/u> targeting conservative nonprofit groups during the Obama years. <\/p>\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\">\n<figure class=\"Figure mb-1 mb-sm-3 mb-md-1 article-lead-photo data_invisible\" data-align=\"center\" data-image-size=\"fixed\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n<div class=\"Figure-container\"> <picture><source media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"767\" height=\"478\" data-image-size=\"1060x600_md\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" width=\"767\" height=\"478\" data-image-size=\"1060x600_md\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 1440px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"645\" height=\"402\" data-image-size=\"1060x600_xl\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 1440px)\" width=\"645\" height=\"402\" data-image-size=\"1060x600_xl\" ><source type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"1060\" height=\"661\" data-image-size=\"1060x600\" ><source width=\"1060\" height=\"661\" data-image-size=\"1060x600\" ><\/picture><figcaption class=\"Figure-caption\" itemprop=\"caption\">                 Prosecutor Jack Smith waits for the start of the trial against Salih Mustafa at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Sept. 15, 2021.                <\/figcaption><div class=\"Figure-credit\" itemprop=\"author\">                 (Robin van Lonkhuijsen\/Pool Photo via AP)                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Howell <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alanfeuer\/status\/1638624358795976733?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">overruled<\/a><\/u> an appeal by Trump&#8217;s lawyers this week of a ruling telling Corcoran \u201cto comply with the district court\u2019s March 17, 2023, order to produce documents.\u201d Further reports this week <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/courts\/trump-misled-attorneys-classified-documents\">claimed<\/a><\/u> that Howell had written in a sealed filing that the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence showing that Trump misled his own attorneys, meaning that attorney-client privilege could not apply to certain interactions between Trump and Corcoran. <\/p>\n<p>Corcoran is scheduled to testify on Friday, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/03\/22\/politics\/evan-corcoran-trump-lawyer-appeals-court\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> a CNN report. <\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden is <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/penn-biden-center-presidency-in-waiting-center-classified-docs-saga\">also being investigated<\/a> by another Garland-appointed special counsel, Robert Hur. Biden\u2019s personal attorneys <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/bob-bauer-point-man-biden-classified-docs-saga\">said they first discovered classified documents in early November 2022<\/a><\/u> at the <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/mccaul-demands-answers-blinken-classified-docs-penn-biden-center\">Penn Biden Center<\/a><\/u>, located in the <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-dc\">nation\u2019s capital<\/a><\/u>. Biden\u2019s lawyers have since found more classified documents at his Wilmington home in Delaware, and the Department of Justice <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/doj-biden-wilmington-home-search-more-classified-documents\">found more when it conducted its own search<\/a><\/u>. <\/p>\n<p>Howell <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/sources-special-counsel-claims-trump-deliberately-misled-attorneys\/story?id=98024191\">wrote last week<\/a> that Smith prosecutors had made a &#8220;prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,&#8221; according to sources cited by ABC News this week, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by Corcoran and another Trump lawyer, Jennifer Little, could thus be pierced and that Corcoran could be compelled to testify in front of the grand jury. <\/p>\n<p>Howell was <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/03\/17\/d-c-chief-judge-trump-00087731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">replaced<\/a> as chief judge on Friday by fellow Obama appointee Judge James Boasberg. <\/p>\n<p>Corcoran had <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/03\/17\/politics\/evan-corcoran-testimony-trump-lawyer\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly drafted<\/a> the June 2022 statement that said Trump\u2019s team had conducted a \u201cdiligent search\u201d for classified information at Mar-a-Lago. The letter was signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb, who reportedly added to the letter that the search was diligent \u201cto the best of my knowledge.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The six areas which Corcoran <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/courts\/six-trumps-attorney-testify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can now reportedly be forced to testify about<\/a> include whether Trump knew about the signed certification from the summer of 2022, what steps Corcoran took to ensure there were no other classified documents at Trump\u2019s Florida resort home, who was involved in making Bobb a custodian of Trump\u2019s records after he left the presidency, and what Corcoran and Trump discussed in a phone call on June 24, 2022. <\/p>\n<p>Sources <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/sources-special-counsel-claims-trump-deliberately-misled-attorneys\/story?id=98024191\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> ABC News that Howell instructed Corcoran to turn over documents related to what the now-former judge allegedly claimed was Trump\u2019s \u201ccriminal scheme.\u201d These records \u201cinclude handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings.\u201d <\/p>\n<div id=\"dsk-banner-ad-g\"><\/div>\n<p>The judge reportedly found that Smith\u2019s team provided &#8220;sufficient&#8221; evidence to indicate that Trump had &#8220;intentionally concealed&#8221; the existence of more classified documents from Corcoran. <\/p>\n<p>Corcoran <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-02-11\/trump-lawyer-in-mar-a-lago-search-appeared-before-grand-jury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly<\/a> testified in front of the federal grand jury in January 2023, where he cited attorney-client privilege when declining to answer certain questions. Corcoran\u2019s law firm reportedly hired Michael Levy to represent Corcoran in the Smith investigation, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-lawyer-hires-own-attorney-classified-documents-probe-2023-02-17\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> <i>Reuters<\/i> in February 2023. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is nothing more than a targeted, politically motivated witch hunt against President Trump, concocted to try and prevent the American people from returning him to the White House,\u201d Trump spokesman Steven Cheung <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/10\/us\/politics\/evan-corcoran-mar-a-lago.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in February. \u201cJust like all the other fake hoaxes thrown at President Trump, this corrupt effort will also fail. The weaponized Department of Injustice has no regard for common decency and key rules that govern the legal system.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s prosecutors then successfully \u201csought approval from a federal judge to invoke what is known as the crime-fraud exception\u201d that month, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/14\/us\/politics\/trump-lawyer-classified-documents-investigation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> the <i>New York Times<\/i>, which allowed the DOJ to pierce the attorney-client privilege assertions. <\/p>\n<p>Howell <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/03\/17\/politics\/evan-corcoran-testimony-trump-lawyer\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly ruled<\/a> in a sealed order last week that the DOJ had met the crime-fraud exception related to Corcoran\u2019s testimony. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhenever prosecutors target the attorneys, that\u2019s usually a good indication their underlying case is very weak. If they had a real case, they wouldn\u2019t need to play corrupt games with the Constitution,\u201d Trump\u2019s team <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/17\/us\/politics\/trump-lawyer-testify-documents.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> last week, adding, \u201cEvery American has the right to consult with counsel and have candid discussions.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Trump returned an initial batch of 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives in January 2022. However, the National Archives said it had found some records with classified markings and believed Trump continued to possess other records, and in February 2022, it referred the issue to the Justice Department. <\/p>\n<p>Acting Archivist Debra Wall sent a May 2022 letter to Corcoran, informing him that an initial review <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/inside-trump-russia-declassification-effort\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cidentified items marked as classified national security information.\u201d<\/a><\/u> <\/p>\n<p>The archivist said this resulted in <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/white-house-claim-biden-maralago-knowledge-contradicted-national-archives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden and the White House being made aware<\/a><\/u> of the situation as <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/trump-investigated-espionage-act-violation-unsealed-fbi-warrant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the FBI sought access to the records<\/a><\/u>. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>The National Archives told Trump\u2019s lawyers in early May 2022 that it \u201cwill provide the FBI access to the records in question, as requested by the incumbent President [Biden].&#8221; Corcoran pointed to \u201ca few bedrock principles\u201d in a letter back to the DOJ, including that <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/doj-redacts-fbi-affidavit-response-trump-declassification-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cA President Has Absolute Authority To Declassify Documents&#8221;<\/a><\/u> and that \u201cPresidential Actions Involving Classified Documents Are Not Subject To Criminal Sanction.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The National Archives letter in May 2022 was followed the next day by a grand jury subpoena, then by a June 2022 visit to Mar-a-Lago by investigators, and finally by <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/new-details-espionage-act-investigation-trump-revealed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the August 2022 raid<\/a><\/u>. Garland quickly said that he <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/doj-trump-fbi-raid-warrant-unsealed-garland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cpersonally approved&#8221;<\/a><\/u> the search.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With much of the attention focused on a possible Manhattan grand jury indictment, special counsel Jack Smith has been aggressively moving forward in his investigation into former President Donald Trump\u2019s possession of classified records. Last week, then-Chief Judge Beryl Howell reportedly ruled in a sealed order that Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran&#8217;s assertion of attorney-client privilege<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1904194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[5262,3976,7317,5265,7075,5368,14434],"class_list":["post-1904193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-grand","tag-investigation","tag-jack","tag-jury","tag-mar-a-lago","tag-moves","tag-smiths"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1904193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1904194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1904193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1904193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1904193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}