If you wanted to know what's holding DOJ up in the Mar-a-lago docs probe [View all]

...the answer might be in what's going down with Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran

An appeals court panel today temporarily blocked U.S. Judge Beryl Howell’s “crime-fraud” order against Trump attorney Evan Corcoran that compelled him to testify to the grand jury and turn over his phones and emails, but the panel set a midnight deadline for him to tell the court exactly what documents of communications he's claiming are privileged.

DOJ has until 6am to respond, reflecting the urgency which the appeals court views their decision, either on national security concerns, or maybe they just got tired of Trump people delaying with unsupportable claims.

The importance of this can't be overstated, Corcoran is the Trump lawyer who drafted the letter that Cristine Bobb signed saying that all documents at Mar-a-Lago had been returned. Bobb reportedly added language to the letter that all records had been returned “based upon the information that has been provided to me.”

Either they took it on themselves to lie, or or were told a lie by Trump. Either they're guilty of obstruction of a federal investigation, or Trump is.

You'd think Corcoran would leave Trump to twist in the wind, and maybe he has, but he appears to still work for Trump. Or does he?

Today, ABC reported that behind Judge Howell's order was an assertion by the Special Prosecutor that it was, in fact, Trump who had 'misled' his lawyers:

"Prosecutors in the special counsel's office have presented compelling preliminary evidence that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office, a former top federal judge wrote Friday in a sealed filing, according to sources who described its contents to ABC News.

U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who on Friday stepped down as the D.C. district court's chief judge, wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office had made a "prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations," according to the sources, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced."

Sources added that Howell also ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump's alleged "criminal scheme," echoing prosecutors. Those records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings. (lordy, there are tapes!)

In reaching the so-called prima facie standard to pierce Corcoran's privilege, Howell agreed prosecutors made a sufficient showing that on its face would appear to show Trump committed crimes. The judge made it clear that prosecutors would still need to meet a higher standard of evidence in order to seek charges against Trump...