Evan Corcoran: Trump lawyer who was a key witness for Trump has left his defense team

CNN
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CNN has learned that former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran, who was a key witness in the classified documents case against former President Trump, is no longer representing Trump.

Mr. Corcoran left Mr. Trump’s defense team in recent months, according to multiple sources, a notable departure as his South Florida criminal case remains unresolved.

Corcoran’s quiet departure from Trump’s orbit could pose significant problems for the former president, with prosecutors potentially calling him as a key witness if the case goes to trial. be. He was also one of the last lawyers on the original defense team that handled the federal investigation into Trump as his legal jeopardy skyrocketed.

Mr. Corcoran was brought in to help Mr. Trump evade charges in the classified documents investigation, but Mr. Trump misled him about the location of the documents at the Mar-a-Lago club and lied to the judge. Instead, he became the main witness. Hold those documents.

A year ago, Corcoran ordered prosecutors to appear after a district judge ruled that attorney-client privilege could not be used to hide investigators’ notes and notes about interactions with President Trump. He was asked to appear before a grand jury investigating the incident because he met the mandatory standard. For him, it’s an exception to criminal fraud. The voice memo, which turned into a memo, provided a roadmap for prosecutors in prosecuting Trump. Corcoran is referred to in the indictment as “Trump Lawyer 1.”

If the case goes to trial, Mr. Corcoran is likely to be a key witness for the prosecution. The case has been mired in delays and unresolved logistical issues in recent months.

Mr. Corcoran ultimately declined to represent Mr. Trump in the classified documents case, but continued to represent Mr. Trump in other investigations. Last August, he personally accompanied the former president when he was arraigned in Washington on federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Corcoran declined to comment to CNN.

Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan told CNN in a statement. Mr. Corcoran remains on the defense team and continues to help fight the witch hunt in the Biden trial.”Any claims to the contrary are fake news spread by uninformed sources, misinformation and disinformation.” This is an untrue report that attempts to leak information.”

Mr. Corcoran’s departure from the team highlights that the people who could ultimately bring one of these cases to trial are relatively new to Mr. Trump’s legal team. Two other attorneys involved in those two investigations, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, retired last summer. The result is a loss of institutional knowledge from the lawyers who were at the center of the investigation, handling subpoenas and communicating with Justice Department lawyers before the historic indictment.

But it is Corcoran’s role in investigating classified documents that could pose the biggest problem for President Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith said Corcoran’s memos detail his interactions with Trump and show how his client plotted to defeat prosecutors’ subpoenas. It is said that it has become clear what happened. At one point, after Mr. Corcoran personally searched Mar-a-Lago for remaining documents, Mr. Trump revealed 38 documents marked classified that Mr. Corcoran had found and kept in Redweld’s folder. I talked with my lawyer about what to do.

“Did you find anything? … Bad? Good?” Trump allegedly said, according to the indictment.

The two discussed whether the lawyer should bring the documents to the hotel room for safekeeping. Trump reportedly made a “picking motion” during the conversation, which led Corcoran to say, “Okay, why don’t we take them to the hotel room? What’s in there?” Or if something is really bad, pull it out.”

Brian Butler, a former Mar-a-Lago employee who was dubbed “Trump Employee No. 5” in the indictment of Trump’s classified documents, also identified Corcoran as a key moment leading up to the former president’s indictment. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Butler said that while President Trump was greeting federal agents at his home in June 2022, he unwittingly carried a box containing classified information to the airport. He recalled that he was helping the children.

“I remember seeing this tall guy,” Butler said. “Now I know it’s Evan Corcoran. And I saw a bunch of other people in the living room. I had no clue. I just look at all these people. I have no idea what they’re there for.”

Butler later realized that it was a meeting Corcoran and another attorney had with FBI agents. Two months later, the FBI arrived on the scene with a search warrant.