Trump news – live: Trump’s lawyers acknowledge he could face criminal charges over Mar-a-Lago files
Donald Trump’s legal team have appeared to acknowledge that the Justice Department investigation into classified documents at Mar-a-Lago could result in criminal charges, as they voiced opposition to him answering questions about the “declassification” of the files.
The opposition to Judge Raymond Dearie, who Mr Trump himself had requested as special master in the case, raised eyebrows on Tuesday as the New York judge prepared to hold a first press conference on the matter.
Mr Trump had earlier attacked FBI agents for allegedly ruining his bedroom carpet during the execution of a search warrant last month, during which more than a 100 documents marked classified or top secret were recovered.
The files are among more than 11,000 taken from Mar-a-Lago in the course of the Justice Department’s investigation into mishandling of official documents, which US President Joe Biden described in recent days as being “irresponsible”.
While an Axios report meanwhile revealed why Mr Trumps lawyers had chosen Judge Dearie, a rumoured FBI “skeptic”, as special master in the case brought by the Justice Department against him. Events have so far thrown such claims into doubt as Mr Trump’s legal team voices its opposition to his plan for reviewing those documents.
