Donald Trump’s legal team says it has evidence that the Biden White House collaborated with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Department of Justice, and intelligence agencies in deciding which documents should be in the indictment pursued by special prosecutor Jack Smith.
During a Nov. 1 hearing on the Trump classified documents case in Fort Pierce, Florida, Trump’s lawyers also told Judge Aileen Cannon they discovered a June 2023 letter asking for the removal of Trump’s “ACTIVE SECURITY CLEARANCE.” The letter was written weeks after Smith indicted Trump.
Trump’s lawyers said they have evidence of “extensive communications” between the Biden White House, NARA, intel agencies, and the DOJ/Jack Smith prior to the indictment.
The former president’s legal team also said during the Nov. 1 hearing that they have not seen any underlying evidence to back up claims that 340 classified documents reviewed by Smith are even classified.
According to memos obtained by Just the News, the Biden White House instigated the criminal investigation by eliminating Trump’s claims to executive privilege, opening the door for the DOJ to issue Trump a subpoena to turn over documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.
Team Biden has continually insisted that Joe Biden knew nothing of the raid and only found out about through the media.
John Solomon reported for Just the News: “The memos show then-White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su was engaged in conversations with the FBI, DOJ and National Archives as early as April, shortly after 15 boxes of classified and other materials were voluntarily returned to the federal historical agency from Trump’s Florida home.”
By May, Su had conveyed to NARA that Biden would not object to waiving Trump’s claims to executive privilege.
“The machinations are summarized in several memos and emails exchanged between the various agencies in spring 2022, months before the FBI took the added unprecedented step of raiding Trump’s Florida compound with a court-issued search warrant,” Solomon noted. “The memos provide the most definitive evidence to date of the current White House’s effort to facilitate a criminal probe of the man Joe Biden beat in the 2020 election and may face again as a challenger in 2024. That involvement included eliminating one of the legal defenses Trump might use to fight the FBI over access to his documents.”
In August, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent letters to Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding reports that Jay Bratt, a top aide to Smith, met with Biden White House officials numerous times.
“The alleged relationship between Bratt and the Biden White House reinforces the perception that Smith’s pursuit of President Trump is not an impartial and unprejudiced investigation,” the Judiciary Committee said in a press release.
Excerpts of the letter to Zients:
The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing its oversight of the Biden Justice Department’s commitment to impartial justice and its handling of a special counsel investigation against President Biden’s chief opponent in the upcoming presidential election. According to recent reporting, Jay Bratt—a Department of Justice employee and top aide to Special Counsel Jack Smith—met with White House officials multiple times, just weeks before Mr. Smith indicted former President Donald Trump. This new information raises serious concerns regarding the potential for a coordinated effort between the Department and the White House to investigate and prosecute President Biden’s political opponents.
In September 2021, Mr. Bratt reportedly met with an advisor to the White House Chief of Staff. Two months later, in November 2021, Mr. Bratt again went to the White House to meet with Administration officials. During this same period, President Trump’s lawyers were negotiating with the National Archives about presidential records from his tenure in office. According to reporting, Mr. Bratt’s 2021 White House meetings related to ‘national security.’ Subsequently, on March 31, 2023, just nine weeks prior to Mr. Smith’s indictment of President Trump, Mr. Bratt met with the White House Counsel’s Office Deputy Chief of Staff Caroline Saba and FBI Special Agent Danielle Ray for a ‘case-related interview.’
We have previously raised concerns about Mr. Bratt’s involvement in this matter, which you have declined to address to date. Mr. Bratt is alleged to have improperly pressured a lawyer representing an employee of President Trump to induce the lawyer’s client to cooperate with the Department’s prosecution. Mr. Bratt allegedly commented to the lawyer that he did not think the lawyer was a ‘Trump guy’ and that ‘he would do the right thing.’ Mr. Bratt referenced the lawyer’s application for a judgeship on the D.C. Superior Court and implied that the application would be received more favorably if his client cooperated with the prosecution of President Trump.
These facts reinforce the serious concern that Mr. Smith is not running an impartial and unprejudiced investigation and prosecution. The Committee has a significant interest in examining how the Department runs its Special Counsel investigations to inform potential legislative reforms concerning the Department’s Special Counsel practices and operations.