Special prosecutor Jack Smith has "eviscerated" Donald Trump's claim that he had special clearance to take White House documents with him to his Florida estate, a former federal prosecutor has said.
Writing in her Civil Discourse blog on Sunday, Joyce Vance noted Trump's claim that the Department of Energy had given him special clearance to take the documents when he was still president—a claim that Smith attacked in a court filing on Friday.
Trump's claim is contained in a motion seeking more discovery in the Justice Department's case against the former president for allegedly mishandling classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Last year, the Justice Department charged Trump with 40 counts in the documents case, including 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information and other charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record and corruptly concealing a document or record. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, as he has in his three other criminal cases.
Donald Trump stands on stage during a campaign event on January 27, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trump is seeking more disclosure in the federal indictment against him in Florida for allegedly hoarding classified documents.... Donald Trump stands on stage during a campaign event on January 27, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trump is seeking more disclosure in the federal indictment against him in Florida for allegedly hoarding classified documents. More David Becker/Getty Images
Federal prosecutors argued that some classified information should be withheld from former President Trump during a closed-door meeting last Wednesday with Aileen Cannon, a federal judge in Florida who is overseeing the classified documents trial.
On Friday night, Smith filed a 67-page response to Trump and his co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira's motion for additional discovery.
"One particularly interesting part of the government's response related to a suggestion in Trump's motion that he had some form of security clearance issued by the Department of Energy that continued after he left the White House," Vance wrote.
"Smith eviscerates that claim in response to Trump's effort to force the government to search for more evidence that such a clearance existed."
Newsweek sought email comment on Monday from Donald Trump's attorney.
Trump's lawyers argued in the discovery motion that the government had an obligation to search Scattered Castles, a database of security clearances maintained by the intelligence community, as well as a similar one maintained by the Department of Defense.
"But Smith pointed out that he had already produced a search in Scattered Castles, 'which yielded no past or present security clearances for Trump.' Same result in the Department of Defense system," Vance wrote.
Trump also asked for discovery about a special "Q clearance" he held through the Department of Energy. Q is a type of clearance granted without a background check in the interests of national security.
"Smith advised the court he had already produced a memo to Trump that showed his Q clearance, granted at the start of his presidency, was terminated shortly after it ended," Vance noted.
"The end date was made retroactive to the end of Trump's tenure. That means that Trump's ongoing possession of classified material and his failure to return them pursuant to a subpoena—long after the Q clearance was terminated—can't conceivably be justified on this basis."
Smith also strongly rejected Trump's allegation that the indictment was politically motivated.
"To be clear, the defendants' requests are predicated on a false narrative. The investigation and prosecution of this case have been appropriately driven by the facts and the law, not by any form of political bias," his filing states.
The trial in the classified documents case is set to begin on May 20, but appeals based on Trump's disclosure arguments could delay it.