Trump Suffers a Major Legal Blow

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a tough blow to former President Donald Trump and his legal team Wednesday afternoon.

A three-judge panel rejected the efforts of Trump and his attorney, Evan Corcoran, to cease the turning over of documents and other communications as part of the investigation into whether the former president mishandled classified documents discovered by authorities at his Mar-a-Lago residence last year.

Circuit Judges J. Michelle Childs, Florence Pan and Nina Pillard issued the order lifting an administrative stay. Childs and Pan were both appointed by President Joe Biden, and Pillard was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

Trump's lawyers were provided a Tuesday midnight deadline by the court to provide case-related information and arguments. The Department of Justice (DOJ) was given a 6 a.m. Wednesday deadline.

The decision follows relative silence from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in relation to another Trump investigation involving alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. An indictment had been predicted by Trump to take place this week.

Last week, then-District of Columbia Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell permitted the DOJ to not just question Corcoran but ordered notes and other communications to be handed over to prosecutors.

Clark Cunningham, law professor at Georgia State University, compared Howell's ruling to that of Judge David Carter—who presided over a March 2022 case in which Trump attorney John Eastman argued that his communications with Trump surrounding January 6 were protected by attorney-client privilege.

It is known as the "crime-fraud exception" and allows Special Counsel Jack Smith to order Corcoran to testify, superseding any traditional attorney-client privilege.

"The crime-fraud exception applies when a client consults an attorney for advice that will serve them in the commission of a fraud or crime, and the communications are sufficiently related to and were made in furtherance of the crime," Carter wrote in the Eastman ruling issued in March 2022. "It is irrelevant whether the attorney was aware of the illegal purpose or whether the scheme was ultimately successful. The exception extinguishes the attorney-client privilege."

Cunningham said the assumption is that Howell's decision infers she "found it was likely that Trump communicated with Corcoran in relation to commission of a crime, and that those communications were related to and in furtherance of the crime."

He told Newsweek via email that the D.C. Court of Appeals' ruling is "striking."

The entire circuit is divided 6-4 between judges appointed by Democratic presidents and Republican presidents, he added, which makes him believe Trump and his legal team won't seek a full review by the entire circuit—which remains an option.

"Trump will probably appeal directly to the Supreme Court, which is likely to grant at least a temporary stay," he said.

Attorney Andrew Lieb told Newsweek via email that a lesson Trump may have learned from this ruling is to not "hide behind his attorneys and claim reliance on counsel as a defense" because that crime-fraud exception can make an attorney who furthers a crime a co-conspirator.

"As the walls cave in on Trump's freedom, perhaps the largest wall—the greatest wall, the biggest wall—has just fallen," Lieb said.

Update 03/23/23, 9:31 a.m. ET: This story was updated to show the disparity between D.C. Court of Appeals judges elected by Democratic and Republican presidents.