Former Attorney General says Trump is "paying for the silence" of Mar-a-Lago witnesses

Former Attorney General says Trump is

"paying for the silence" of Mar-a-Lago witnesses

The payment of legal expenses to important witnesses in the former president's criminal case involving classified data by Donald Trump's political action committee could lead to a conflict of interest, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Jim Walden was responding to news that Trump's Save America PAC was providing legal advice to two people involved in the investigation into whether the former president had improperly handled top secret material found at his

Mar-a-Lago 

resort in August

• and had made attempts to thwart it.

• The Government's attempt to recover the documents.

Brand Woodward

a law firm that now represents witnesses Kash Patel,

a close Trump adviser

and Walt Naota, reportedly received more than $ 120 thousand from Trump's PAC, according to the Washington Post.

Naota, a valet driver at Mar-a-Lago

• can be a key witness in the Justice Department's investigation.

• In May, I was served with a government subpoena requesting the documents.

• Trump was accused of instructing Nauta to move

• the boxes to a storage area at his Florida resort.

Naota was allegedly transporting boxes from the storage room before and after the Justice Department issued the subpoena, according to security footage allegedly obtained by the FBI.

According to Walden

• who was speaking to the Washington Post

• the fact that Trump's PAC was paying Patel

• and Nauta legal fees could ultimately influence

• witness testimony during the investigation.

It seems that Trump's political action committee is either paying for these witnesses to be silenced, for the fifth testimony, or for corroborating testimony, Walden said. These circumstances must seem very suspicious to the Ministry of Justice, and there is a judicial mechanism for them to obtain court supervision if there is a conflict.

According to Walden

the Justice Department may ask the court to question witnesses about whether they truly believe their interests are protected and whether there are any ethical issues about who pays for legal representation of witnesses.

According to Stan Brand

• managing partner of Brand Woodward Law

• there is nothing inappropriate about

• Trump's Save America PAC paying witnesses' legal expenses

• while investigating classified papers.

There is nothing to prevent third parties

from paying legal fees as long as they are disclosed to the customer.

"The lawyer's moral obligation to the client,"

Brand said. This is nothing more than a cheap jab at these people because of their employer.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump

told the newspaper that

• the former president's administration does not comment on

• vendor payments and that all expenses incurred by the U.S.

• peacekeeping office are "reported publicly and in accordance with the law."

Regarding confidential information the FBI took from Trump's Florida property in August, Trump has always denied wrongdoing.

He promoted the suspicious assertion about declassifying the files before the former president left office in 2021, and wrongly compared how records were taken from the White House at the end of previous administrations.

The National Archives and Records Department

(NARA) was responsible for maintaining and owning presidential materials

• which were removed from the White House following Obama's presidency

• Bush and Clinton administrations and preserved at

• the NARA facility for the purpose of being kept in libraries.

Former presidents or their departments have not personally dealt with any of the materials temporarily housed in NARA facilities, nor have they been classified or highly confidential.

The Justice Department declared that it would bring charges against

the Trump team in the Mar-a-Lago case.

According to people familiar with the situation, prosecutors urged a federal judge to find Donald Trump's office in contempt of court for failing to comply fully with a subpoena in May to return all confidential documents in his possession.

This shows how heated private conversations are about whether the former president still has any top secret documents

as the Washington Post claims.

According to anonymous sources

with direct knowledge of the situation,

a hearing on the subject will be held on Friday.

The Justice Department made this request in response

to months of growing upset with Trump's team.

This inconvenience came to a head in June after lawyers for the former head of the Ministry of Justice confirmed that a thorough search of confidential documents had been conducted at the Mar-a-Lago Club and his residence.

But the FBI

gathered evidence indicating that much remained

which was later confirmed by a court-approved search.

According to two of these individuals

• One of the key problems is connected to

• the Trump legal team's repeated failure to

• appoint a guardian of the documents to

sign a statement certifying that all confidential data

was delivered to the federal government.

The Trump team has consistently refused to name the registries to sign such a statement while assuring the Justice Department that they have returned all of these papers, despite requests from the Justice Department for an unequivocal written promise.

Since the deposit is still under seal

it cannot be accurately verified. Trump is being investigated for three possible crimes, including mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice, and destruction of official records.

Stephen Cheung, Trump's spokesman

said the former president's lawyer "continues to cooperate and be transparent." He added: "This is a political manhunt that nothing like this country has seen."

In recent weeks, in response to concerns from the Justice Department and the judge, Trump's team searched a number of his other properties and handed over two things with secret signs to the government.

The material was discovered

• according to Trump advisers, at a storage facility used by

• the former leader in Florida's West Palm Beach.

• Trump Golf Resort in Bedminster, New Jersey

• and its Trump Tower residence and workplace

both in Manhattan, are some of Trump's other recently sought-after properties.

No confidential material was discovered at those sites, according to sources familiar with a private company's searches.

Contrary to

proving a search of a particular location in good faith

Trump's team took the position that such a request was unreasonable and that no lawyer could sign such extensive testimony in good faith or encourage any client to do so.

According to two people familiar

with the situation

some Trump lawyers are reluctant to

confirm anything under oath solely on Trump's word.

The government's contempt request underscores

• the fundamental mistrust that has existed between it

• and the former president since the spring

• when it was trying to obtain important information

• but received unreliable responses in return.

This mistrust has led to a legal pause on

what constitutes a thorough search

for classified documents in sealed papers.

The most likely result

if the judge agrees

will be a daily fine until the conditions of the contempt request are met. The judge will decide how much of the fine he must impose and who will be required to pay it.