The special counsel office's prosecutors have shown in preliminary evidence that former U.S. President Donald Trump has purposedly misled his legal team about the handling of the classified documents after his administration ended.

The new developments on the case were revealed by a former top federal judge's sealed filing, according to ABC News sources.

The judge who stepped down as the D.C. district court's chief judge was identified as U.S. Judge Beryl Howell. He wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office had made a "prima facie," which showed that Trump had committed criminal violations.

Howell ordered that Evan Corcoran, a Trump lawyer, should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry. Corcoran had earlier asserted attorney-client privilege.

Howell also ordered the Trump lawyer to hand over a number of records connected to what Howell described as Trump's alleged "criminal scheme."

It will include Trump's transcriptions of personal audio recordings, invoices, and handwritten notes.

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Donald Trump Misleading Own Legal Team

Judge Beryl Howell also agreed with prosecutors that there was "sufficient evidence" that the former president "intentionally concealed" the classified materials from his own lawyers.

Sources familiar with the filing noted that it led the attorney to deceive the government.

The retired judge went on to describe the former president's interactions with officials from the National Archives as a "dress rehearsal" for his further attempts at misleading in response to the subpoena issued by Justice Department, as reported by New York Post.

Howell clarified that the special counsel's office would need to meet a higher standard of evidence to seek charges against Trump.

A Trump campaign spokesperson slammed the report, saying, "Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting illegally leaked false allegations."

The spokesperson added that the real story is that "Fake News ABC should be reporting" on how prosecutors only attack lawyers when they "have no case whatsoever."

Donald Trump Classified Documents

The initial retrieval had more than 150 classified documents reclaimed from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence by the National Archives.

The number and the way the classified documents were found sparked a criminal investigation on the matter, with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seizing more materials in the Mar-a-Lago property of the former president.

The New York Times reported that the government retrieved over 300 classified documents from Trump since he left the White House.

Some documents include materials from the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the FBI. It spanned various topics of national security interest, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Multiple people briefed on his efforts noted that Trump went through the boxes himself in late 2021 before turning those over.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden also gave back a number of classified documents he found in his possession, particularly in his think tank offices and his Delaware home.

Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said that only a few documents were found, as cited by Associated Press News.

Sauber added that the National Archives took custody of the materials the next day after Biden's personal attorneys alerted the White House counsel's office.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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