The Justice Department has more evidence against failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump that it has not yet unsealed and could be what sends him to prison for espionage and other crimes, according to a court filing made Friday in a federal appeals court, according to The New York Times.
In a 53-page brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, the Justice Department broadly challenged the legal legitimacy of orders last month by Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who blocked investigators from using the materials and appointed an independent arbiter to sift them for any that are potentially privileged or Mr. Trump’s personal property. The Justice Department already succeeded in persuading a panel of the Atlanta-based court to exempt about 100 documents marked classified from Judge Cannon’s move — a decision the Supreme Court declined to overturn this week.
The brief also addresses the issue of evidence the DOJ has not yet unsealed.
“Here and before the district court, the government has referred to evidence developed in its investigation to inform the courts of the relevant facts,” DOJ wrote. “Where possible, the government refers to portions of the affidavit accompanying its search warrant application that have been unsealed or to other information in the public record.
“Of necessity, however, the government cannot publicly disclose all the sources of its evidence, particularly while the investigation remains ongoing.”
What could the additional evidence be? Potentially, statements from witnesses who may have seen the former president hiding or moving classified documents from one location to another, which could also mean that the DOJ is already planning to serve more search warrants at other Trump properties. The FBI could also have Trump and other figures under audio and video surveillance to determine what he may be doing with any materials still in his possession.
The very fact that the Justice Department has to keep some evidence under wraps suggests that it must be explosive and could wind up serving as the foundation of a legal case against Trump.
