U.S. Justice Dept asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt in documents probe -Washington Post
2022.12.08 17:13
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement of his plans to run for president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Octavio Jones/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal judge to hold former Donald Trump’s office in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a subpoena to return all classified documents in the former president’s possession, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell has not yet held a hearing or ruled on the request, the newspaper reported.
One of the key areas of disagreement centers on the Trump legal team’s repeated refusal to designate a custodian of records to sign a document attesting that all classified materials have been returned to the federal government, the report added.
The filing for the request was sealed, according to the newspaper. The Justice Department declined to comment on the Washington Post report.
The department is investigating whether Trump broke the law by retaining U.S. government records, some marked as top secret, after leaving office in January 2021.
