Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of midterm elections, in Dayton, Ohio, November 7, 2022.
Gaelen Morse | Reuters
A federal judge on Friday didn’t grant a Justice Department request to carry former President Donald Trump’s office in contempt of court for allegedly failing to comply with a grand jury subpoena, NBC News reported.
The department wanted Judge Beryl Howell to seek out Trump’s office in contempt for not fully complying with the subpoena issued in May, which demanded he return classified documents still in his possession, in keeping with an individual acquainted with the problem who spoke to NBC News.
The Justice Department had no comment on Howell’s rejection of the request, which got here after a closed hearing was scheduled for the matter in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The hearing was sealed since it pertains to grand jury proceedings. NBC News was a part of a media coalition looking for access to the hearing.
Trump’s lawyers Evan Corcoran, Jim Trusty and Timothy Parlatore were seen entering Howell’s chambers across the time of the scheduled hearing at 2 p.m. ET, NBC reported.
The trio then was leaving the courthouse at just before 3:30 p.m.
Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation of Trump for his failure to return government documents when he left the White House, in addition to for possible obstruction of justice.
An August FBI raid of his residence on the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, found hundreds of such records, greater than 100 of which were marked classified or highly classified.
Trump last month announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Trump’s spokesperson, in a press release Friday, said, “The President and his counsel will proceed to be transparent and cooperative, even within the face of the highly weaponized and corrupt witch-hunt from the Department of Justice.”
“Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 emails after they were subpoenaed by Congress, yet absolutely nothing has happened to carry her accountable,” the spokesperson said.
“If the Department of Justice can go after President Trump, they’ll surely come after any American who they disagree with.”
