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Donald Trump could be fined every day until he complies with a subpoena issued to him in relation to the classified documents investigation.
The Department of Justice asked a federal judge to hold Trump's office in contempt of court after fears he still has not returned all top secret materials removed from the White House in January 2021.
The former president was originally subpoenaed to return the classified materials in May. Trump's lawyers assured the FBI that all materials were returned in June. More than 100 documents, including those marked top secret, were later seized by federal agents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in August.
The request for District Judge Beryl A. Howell to hold Trump's office in contempt arrives after it was reported that the former president's lawyers found two more documents with classified markings at a storage facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, just before Thanksgiving.
The lawyers turned over the documents to the FBI and told a judge that they again now believe Trump is no longer in possession of many more classified materials, a claim rejected by prosecutors.
A decision on whether to hold Trump's office in contempt is expected to be made by Howell on Friday. If found in contempt, Trump or his legal team could face a daily fine until the demands of the May subpoena are met, with the decision on how much the daily fine will cost being up to the judge.
Prosecutors also suggested Trump's team should be held in contempt for not designating an official a custodian of records to sign a document attesting that all classified materials have been returned to the federal government.
In June, Trump's team told the government that attorney Christina Bobb was the custodian of records. Bobb signed a letter, written by lawyer Evan Corcoran, attesting to the FBI that all classified materials had been returned following a "diligent search."
Bobb was said to have been skeptical about signing the letter, telling the DOJ that she asked for a disclaimer that claims about the materials were "based upon the information that has been provided to me."
Earlier this year, Trump paid a $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with a civil subpoena issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In April, New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump would be fined $10,000 every day unless he handed over all documents to James' office as part of the investigation into The Trump Organization's bank fraud inquiry.
On May 11, Engoron released Trump from the judicial order on the condition that he pays the $110,000 he had already accumulated by May 20.
Trump was not asked to pay the total running cost of fines on May 11, which would have amounted to $160,000, as his lawyers had submitted 66 pages of court documents on May 6 to show they are trying to locate the subpoenaed records.
Trump later paid the full $110,000 on May 20.
James is continuing her investigation into allegations Trump inflated the value of his assets and properties in order to achieve better bank loans and other benefits, and announced a $250 million lawsuit against the former president and three of his children—Ivanka, Eric and Don Jr.—in September.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's lawyers for comment.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more