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DESPERATION: As indictments loom, Trump’s lawyers try a Hail Mary with the DOJ

DESPERATION: As indictments loom, Trump’s lawyers try a Hail Mary with the DOJ

DESPERATION: As indictments loom, Trump's lawyers try a Hail Mary with the DOJ

The DOJ is completing its investigation into documents stored at Mar-a-Lago — and the actions of Donald Trump’s lawyers are a hint at what might be next.

An attorney for Trump sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday asking for a meeting to discuss what he described as unfair treatment and “ongoing injustice.”

He tried to compare the investigation of Trump to the treatment of President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, neither of whom have been accused of deliberately keeping government documents after falsely claiming to have returned them.

Nor has Biden been credibly accused (Trump’s social media posts don’t count) of handling documents indiscriminately or showing them to others.

The timing of the letter is relevant — Trump could have requested contact with the DOJ at any point in the probe, but this particular investigation is now coming to a close.

The interviews are wrapping up, investigators have talked to virtually everyone involved or close to the matter, and recently-revealed documents will belie Trump’s most likely defense. The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Smith’s team, which has been examining whether anyone tried to obstruct the criminal inquiry, has obtained evidence that appears to show Trump held on to sensitive documents after being asked to relinquish them, the people said. Last week the National Archives turned over to Smith’s team records of communications between then-President Trump and some of his advisers about how he could declassify documents, some of the people said, material that could help prosecutors overcome the defense that Trump believed he could do so verbally.”

Though the letter itself doesn’t delve into details, people close to Trump have said that they believe indictments are coming, and there are already plans in the works to use the prosecution as a fundraising tool.

Trump even shared the letter on his social media — a hint that it was as much for his fans as for the DOJ. (You’ll see it below.)

Despite planning to work the (potential) indictments into a campaign strategy, those in Trump’s inner circle say that the attorneys do hope to talk Garland out of charging Trump, according to ABC.

[Image via Donald Trump/TruthSocial]
Stephanie Bazzle
Steph Bazzle is a news writer who covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph. Sign up for all of her stories to be delivered to your inbox here:

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