Christina Bobb told the Justice Department on Friday that she had signed a supposedly complete list of documents at the direction of attorney Evan Corcoran.
Trump’s lawyer, Christina Bobb, took it upon herself to certify to the Justice Department that all sensitive government documents stored at her Mar-a-Lago hotel and subpoenaed by a grand jury had been returned, though she did not conduct the records studies herself.
The certification of compliance with the subpoena appears to be in the midst of a fraudulent investigation into obstruction of justice surrounding the former U. S. president. The insurance turned out to be fake when the FBI’s search revealed more than a hundred documents classified as classified.
The saga surrounding the Mar-a-Lago documents has become increasingly tense in court, as Trump has continually claimed that the FBI studies and the resulting investigation are politically motivated. Meanwhile, the Justice Department and Democrats have described taking the documents as a potentially serious breach of national security.
Bobb signed the certification as a “record holder” under the direction of another Trump lawyer, Evam Corcoran, only after adding warnings to make it less foolproof since she herself had not conducted the studies, according to 3 sources familiar with the matter.
The written certification through Corcoran, who also searched Mar-a-Lago for the required documents through the subpoena, and sent it to Bobb before Justice Department counterintelligence leader Jay Bratt arrived June 3 to compile a dossier of response files, the resources said. But doubtful whether the subpoena had been fully complied with, Bobb told Corcoran to replace the certification to say that “based on the data they provided to me,” all documents responding to the subpoena were returned after a “diligent search,” the appeals said.
It was unclear why Bobb was willing to single her out, as required through subpoena rather than testimony, as “custodian of record” when she never fulfilled that role, the appeals said, and gave the impression of knowing there was a threat in attesting to a search she had not completed. as if he had asked for Bobb’s signature.
Bobb testified Friday before the Justice Department about the June 3 episode, detailing Corcoran’s role and other contacts with Trump’s in-house lawyer, Boris Epshteyn, one of the appeals said. NBC News previously reported on Bobb’s testimony.
Cases involving subpoena certification have become of specific interest to the Justice Department as it conducts a fraudulent investigation into imaginable violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and retention of government records. to the partially worded search warrant affidavit and recent court filings, is whether the letter signed through Bobb was a planned forgery for Trump to simply hide other documents marked as classified at Mar-a-Lago. “Most likely, efforts have been made to obstruct the government’s investigation,” federal prosecutors said in an August court filing. But the main points behind certification not reported in the past, and accepted as sufficient by the Justice Department on June 3, may replace the dynamics of the obstruction investigation and minimize Bobb’s potential legal exposure if she was misinformed, former Justice Department officials said.
The Justice Department appears to see Bobb and Corcoran as witnesses rather than potential defendants, though that is likely to replace them without warning: in a move toward the U. S. Court of Appeals. In the U. S. Department of Justice for the 11th Circuit, prosecutors wrote that Trump’s lawyers may also simply be “witnesses to applicable events. “
Corcoran did not respond to requests for comment. Bobb and his defense attorney for thieves also did not respond to requests for comment, even though Bobb has told affiliates since the Aug. 8 FBI asset raid that the certification she signed was true, the appeals said. Bobb is even considered an in-house counsel on Trump’s legal team, but he was not involved in the Mar-a-Lago documents case in the run-up to the FBI’s search for Florida assets and signed the certification as a “records keeper” only on call, the resources said. The difference is important: By signing the declaration as a custodian than as an attorney, Bobb would likely not be subject to attorney-client privilege protections and could therefore speak more freely.