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Witnesses or Targets: Trump's lawyers' filing supporting a Special Master may be D.O.A. [1]

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Date: 2022-08-31

Willard Hotel "command center" 5 january 2021

Two Trump lawyers, Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran face scrutiny over their communications with the justice department, legal experts say they could be witnesses or targets in an FBI investigation.

They’re claiming that Trump’s privacy rights were violated by the FBI and DoJ, because circular reasoning happens with less competent lawyering. The prior day’s filing opens the lawfare to the eventual discussion of obstruction once the special master matter is resolved. Everything is conditioned by the attempt to reveal confidential witnesses as well as the reality that the documents still remain the property of a government in which FPOTUS does not serve.

x Trump filing in the special master case is in: https://t.co/MeuMxMkwdB — Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) August 31, 2022

The convoluted theory, which appears to be that the Biden administration will not allow President Trump to assert executive privilege and consequently he has “no right” to possess Presidential documents, and that, therefore, he has no standing to object to their seizure, is contrary to the well-established doctrine of standing. It is the reasonable expectation of privacy in one’s home that triggers the obvious standing of the homeowner to contest a search on those premises. To suggest that the seizure of allegedly “illegally possessed” items negates standing literally distorts the entire concept of the Wong Sun “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine into the bizarre notion that, if the recovered property is potentially illegal to possess, then the homeowner can never challenge the basis of the intrusion. This argument by the Government is premature and deeply flawed, as more described in more detail below. [...] Yesterday, the Attorney General found an unrelated opportunity to announce that “we [the DOJ] hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards to avoid even the appearance of political influence as we carry out the Department’s mission.” The basic factual components of the issue before this Court implicate that notion head-on. A search warrant has been executed at the home of a President. It was conducted in the midst of the standard give-and-take between former Presidents and NARA regarding Presidential library contents, and with the Movant literally allowing DOJ lawyers and FBI investigators to come to his home and provide security advice. Soon after, and for the first time in history, an Attorney General took to the podium to announce a willingness to unseal a warrant and property receipt, while eventually, and reluctantly, turning over a heavily redacted document that is more black than white. Even yesterday, the Government’s Response gratuitously included a photograph of allegedly classified materials, pulled from a container and spread across the floor for dramatic effect. The Government pretends these are not historically important moments, telling this Court that not only does it object to a Special Master, but that the Movant should have no opportunity to challenge any aspect of this behavior and decision-making. Rule 41 exists for a reason, and the Movant respectfully asks that this Court ensure enough fairness and transparency, even if accompanied by sealing orders, to allow Movant to legitimately and fulsomely investigate and pursue relief under that Rule. A fair-minded DOJ that truly embraced the highest ethical standards would, and should, agree.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/31/2120047/-Witnesses-or-Targets-Trump-s-lawyers-filing-supporting-a-Special-Master-may-be-D-O-A

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