In recent days, Justice Department lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell to hold Trump’s office in contempt, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sealed court proceedings.
Former president Donald Trump’s election denialism escalated on Dec. 3, when he floated “terminating” the Constitution in order to remedy non-existent fraud.
Trump is under investigation for three potential crimes: mishandling classified documents, obstruction and destruction of government records.
Trump’s team has searched a number of his other properties in recent weeks, in response to the Justice Department concerns and instructions from the judge, and turned over two items with classification markings to the government.
If the judge were to agree, the most likely scenario would be a daily fine until the demands of the contempt motion are met.
In recent weeks, a number of Trump advisers have appeared in front of a grand jury hearing evidence in the classified documents case.
In this case, however, there is no representative of Trump who has actually maintained control of the records. »