Tag: MaraLago

Trump lawyers: Notes for calls with foreign leaders are among classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago

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POLITICO obtained a copy of the letter sent to House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio). Tim Parlatore, one of the letter’s signatories, told POLITICO that it was also sent to House Intel Democrats and to Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The letter was first reported by CNN.
“Please know that despite the differences in the cases, we do not believe that any of these three matters should be handled by DOJ as a criminal case,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Rather, the stakeholders to these matters should set aside political differences and work together to remediate this issue and help to enhance our national security in the process.”
The letter said two of Trump’s lawyers, Parlatore and Jim Trusty, reviewed 15 boxes of documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House and then later sent to the National Archives.
“Following its review of the materials, NARA inserted placeholder pages where it had removed documents with classification markings,” reads the letter, signed by Parlatore, Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan. “That allowed Messrs. Parlatore and Trusty to discern what the documents were, as well as what other materials in the boxes were in the proximity of the marked documents when the White House staff packed them. The vast majority of the placeholder inserts refer to briefings for phone calls with foreign leaders that were located near the schedule for those calls.”
The appearance of documents marked classified at Mar-a-Lago, the lawyers continue, was “the result of haphazard records keeping and packing by White House staff and GSA.”
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#Trump #lawyers #Notes #calls #foreign #leaders #among #classified #documents #MaraLago
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 27, 2023
Judge denies media access to records in Mar-a-Lago grand jury fight

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In her latest six-page ruling, Howell said revealing any of the records publicly would invade grand jury secrecy.
“Responding to petitioners’ request would be infeasible without disclosing grand jury material because, if the government asked to hold the former president in contempt, as petitioners allege, that request would have been part of an effort to secure compliance with the grand jury Subpoena,” wrote Howell, taking care not to confirm any details of the battle. “The requested filings would invariably and consistently touch on ‘matters occurring before the grand jury.’”
Howell noted news reports about prosecutors’ efforts to seek contempt proceedings over allegedly inadequate efforts by Trump lawyers to locate documents with classification markings related to the ongoing probe headed by special counsel Jack Smith.
Last month, Howell denied a similar access request from POLITICO and The New York Times for information about privilege battles relating to prosecutors’ efforts to call former White House aides before a grand jury investigating attempts to interfere with the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
But last month, Howell also opted to unseal several significant filings in a grand jury matter connected to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a key ally in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Howell said the grand jury materials in that case could be released in part because the court of appeals held public arguments about the matter that revealed details that had previously been public.
Howell, an appointee of President Barack Obama, is set to end her seven-year term as chief judge next week. Grand jury-related matters not resolved by then are expected to be transferred to her successor, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, also an Obama appointee.
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#Judge #denies #media #access #records #MaraLago #grand #jury #fight
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 12, 2023
Trump courts early-state Republicans at Mar-a-Lago

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Trump’s team is moving to address some of the problems that arose during his disorganized — though ultimately successful — 2016 campaign, when his then-primary rival Ted Cruz seemed like he might outmaneuver him in the fight for delegates. Trump ultimately brought in Paul Manafort to oversee his delegate efforts, but he still faced a messy convention where he was forced to beat back pockets of opposition from delegates waging a failed effort to stop his nomination.
The insider-driven process that decides who gets selected as a convention delegate in each state will unfold next year, and the positions are typically awarded to party officials and others who have been involved in GOP activities.
This time, Trump is making a point to reach out to would-be convention delegates, looking to capitalize on his head-start in the 2024 race to make inroads before rivals who are just getting started with their organizational efforts.
In Iowa, Trump has placed full-page ads in Republican Party publications for the past two years, and last year, he gave the state GOP chairman, longtime Trump ally Jeff Kaufmann, a speaking slot at a rally he held in the state. Kaufmann’s son, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, was recently named an adviser to Trump’s campaign.
In New Hampshire, Trump recently made an appearance before the state GOP and has hired the former state party chairman, Stephen Stepanek, as a senior adviser.
And last year in South Carolina, Trump sponsored a breakfast and spoke remotely to the South Carolina Republican Party’s executive committee. In 2021, Trump endorsed Drew McKissick for his successful bid to state GOP chair and later featured McKissick as a speaker at a rally he hosted in Florence, S.C. (However, Trump endorsed another candidate over McKissick, the eventual victor, in this year’s RNC co-chair race.)
The Thursday dinner was attended by Trump advisers Susie Wiles, Brian Jack, Alex Latcham and Jason Miller. Jack, who helped to lead Trump’s 2016 convention efforts and who has also served as a top political adviser to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has been overseeing the outreach to state parties.
The Nevada delegation included state party chairman Mike McDonald, a longtime ally of the former president, and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid. Before dining with Trump, the state party leaders received a briefing from Trump aides on the 2024 campaign.

Trump during the dinner did not specify when he would campaign in Nevada, where he owns a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. But the former president made clear he would travel there in the months to come. He has made stops this year in two other early-voting states, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he is set to campaign in Iowa on March 13.
Other candidates have also been ramping up their early state campaigning. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has spent time in several key states since launching her campaign last month.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, is set to appear in Iowa on March 10 – his first stop in the state, which traditionally hosts the party’s first nominating contest. DeSantis has another event lined up in Las Vegas the next day.

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#Trump #courts #earlystate #Republicans #MaraLago
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 4, 2023