Attorneys Evan Corcoran, Jim Trusty, and Lindsey Halligan, known to represent the former president-turned real estate mogul, were spotted by reporters at the US District Court for the District of Columbia. However, almost no information is known about their activities, since the courtroom they entered was sealed to all except them and several members of the DOJ legal team.
"We know this was really the backdrop of all of this is the Justice Department’s push for Trump to turn over whatever additional documents that, at least the Justice Department believes, are still missing and may still be in the possession of the former president," CNN reporter Evan Perez said on-air on Thursday about the sighting.
"They have continued to maintain that they believe there continues to be government documents that are missing, and they want the former president to figure out whether they are still in possession at one of his properties and how to turn them back over to the federal government."
An FBI photo of several classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago during an August 8, 2022, raid. Among them are files marked TOP SECRET/SCI, the highest known level of classification.
Beginning in January, the US government collected hundreds of documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that belonged to the US National Archives and other federal agencies, including classified documents of the highest secrecy. While the first return was voluntary, the FBI returned in early August with a search and seizure warrant and collected hundreds more.
Trump has not yet faced charges in connection with the raid, but the FBI’s warrant cited fears he had violated the Espionage Act and federal laws against the mishandling of documents and obstruction of justice.
Earlier this month, the DOJ said it was afraid there might still be more documents in Trump’s possession, and the Archives have said they still do not have all the communications documents from Trump’s four-year administration that they should have.
The former president has faced a slew of legal cases in recent weeks, being deposed twice in October in one case alleging fraud and another claiming defamation. He has also been subpoenaed by the House January 6 Committee, which is investigating the 2021 insurrection by his followers at the US Capitol.