Special Counsel Jack Smith, in a filing on Friday, decisively refuted a claim made by Donald Trump and his legal team, alleging that the Department of Justice is concealing evidence suggesting the former president was granted a unique security clearance enabling him to retain classified government documents.
“Cloud of Suspicion”
In the 67-page motion, federal prosecutors contended that Trump’s legal team presented an “inaccurate and distorted picture of events” and attempted to “cast a cloud of suspicion over responsible actions by government officials diligently doing their jobs,” the Associated Press reported.
Extraordinary Situation
The filing stated, “The Government here confronted an extraordinary situation: a former President engaging in calculated and persistent obstruction of the collection of Presidential records, which, as a matter of law, belong to the United States for the benefit of history and posterity, and, as a matter of fact, here included a trove of highly classified documents containing some of the nation’s most sensitive information. The law required that those documents be collected.”
Legal Proceedings
Trump faces allegations from the Justice Department for allegedly mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Charges Against Trump
Last year, the Justice Department filed 40 charges against Trump in the documents case. These charges included 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information, along with additional allegations such as conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, and corruptly concealing a document or record.
Not-Guilty Plea
The former president has entered a not-guilty plea to all these charges, as he has done in his three other criminal cases.
Withholding Classified Information
During a closed-door meeting last Wednesday with Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the trial in Florida, federal prosecutors recommended withholding certain classified details from Trump, emphasizing Smith’s rejection of Trump’s defense’s request for additional evidence discovery.
Trump’s Claim Refuted
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance noted that Smith explicitly and unequivocally refuted the Trump claim in his filing on Friday.
Security Clearance
Vance, on her Substack platform, wrote, “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.”
Claim Eviscerated
She added, “Smith eviscerates that claim in response to Trump’s effort to force the government to search for more evidence that such a clearance existed.”
Attorney’s Request
Trump’s lawyers, in their discovery motion, asserted that the Government had a duty to search Scattered Castles, a security clearance database maintained by the intelligence community, as well as a similar database maintained by the Department of Defense.
No Security Clearances
In response to this assertation, Vance wrote, “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.”
Clearance Clarification
Smith clarified to the court that Trump’s “Q clearance” from the Department of Energy was revoked after his presidency, undermining Trump’s justification for holding classified materials.
Unauthorized Document Storage
The filing stated, “But even if Trump’s Q clearance had remained active,” prosecutors said, “that fact would not give him the right to take any documents containing information subject to the clearance to his home and store it in his basement or anywhere else at Mar-a-Lago.”
Political Bias Rejection
Smith also denied any political bias in the indictment, asserting the case’s foundation on facts and law.
“Driven By the Facts”
Special counsel’s court filing stated, “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,”
Upcoming Trial
The trial for the classified documents is scheduled for May 20, with potential delays due to appeals regarding Trump’s disclosure claims.
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