Lawyers for Donald Trump met with Justice Department officials on Monday as a decision nears on whether to bring charges over the handling of classified documents at the former president's Florida estate.
The Trump lawyers two weeks ago requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland to raise concerns about what they alleged was prosecutorial misconduct and overreach by the team led by special counsel Jack Smith. But a defense attorney meeting with Justice Department officials is also often used as an opportunity to try to persuade them against bringing criminal charges.
A trio of Trump attorneys — James Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan — exited the Justice Department building in Washington on Monday morning after more than an hour inside. They got into a black sport utility vehicle and did not respond to reporters' questions.
A CBS News reporter posted a photo on Twitter of Trump's lawyers entering the Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
It was not immediately clear who the lawyers were meeting with. A spokesman for Smith had no immediate comment, and a Justice Department spokesman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago is believed to be near its end, with a charging decision likely soon. Prosecutors have placed a broad cross section of witnesses, including lawyers for Trump and close aides, before a grand jury.
Last week, media outlets reported that Justice Department prosecutors obtained an audio recording of Trump from after he left office in which he talks about holding onto a classified Pentagon document related to a potential attack on Iran.
CNN, which first reported on the tape, said Trump suggested on the recording that he wanted to share information from the document with others but that he knew there were limitations about his ability to declassify records after he left office.
The comments on the recording, made in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, would seem to undercut the former president's repeated claims that he declassified the documents he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, after leaving office. The recording could also be a key aid for prosecutors looking to prove Trump knew his ability to possess classified documents was limited.
The recording has been provided to special counsel Smith, whose team of prosecutors have spent months investigating the potential mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether Trump or anyone else sought to criminally obstruct the probe.
No one has been criminally charged. It's not clear when or if charges might be brought.
The criminal investigation began last year after the National Archives and Records Administration alerted the FBI to the presence of classified documents in 15 boxes of records sent back, belatedly, from Mar-a-Lago by Trump and his representatives. Investigators initially issued a subpoena for remaining classified records, but after they received only about three dozen during a June 2022 visit to Mar-a-Lago, returned with a search warrant two months later and recovered about 100 more documents marked as classified.
Smith is also investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election — the subject of a similar, ongoing inquiry by prosecutors in Atlanta. New York prosecutors charged Trump earlier this year with falsifying business records.
According to the CNN report, the recording was made during a gathering at Bedminster with aides to Trump and two people who were working on the autobiography of Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
It said Meadows' autobiography includes a description of what appears to be the same meeting. A lawyer for Meadows declined to comment Wednesday when reached by The Associated Press.
CNN said witnesses including Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been questioned about the episode. A spokesman for Milley declined to comment on reports that he had been interviewed.
A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement that the investigation was "meritless" and amounted to "continued interference in the presidential election."
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.