Former President Donald Trump tried to obstruct the criminal investigation into the classified documents stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate by getting his lawyers to lie about the documents that were subpoenaed in May 2022, asking them repeatedly if it would be "better if we just told them we don't have anything here," according to audio notes reviewed by ABC News.
The recording, from then-Trump attorney Evan Corcoran, could be used as evidence of the former president's criminal intent. But that is up to Judge Aileen Cannon, who could rule that the notes are subject to attorney-client privilege. Another federal judge last year ruled that prosecutors could obtain the recording as part of their effort to show Trump misled his own attorneys in an effort to effectively make them accomplices.
Corcoran’s notes detail Trump blaming his legal difficulties on his “political enemies." They may support prosecutors' claims that Trump attempted to defy the subpoena that allowed federal agents to eventually seize 102 classified documents — including 17 top secret documents — in the August 2022 on his Mar-a-Lago estate.
"Well look, isn't it better if there are no documents?" Trump asked at one point, per Corcoran's notes. The former president, who faces more than 40 felony counts, has pleaded not guilty.
Before agents stormed his Florida estate, Trump met with Corcoran and attorney Jennifer Little for an hour and a half meeting, where he brought a box filled with newspaper clippings, Post-it notes, photos and other materials.
"I don't want anybody looking, I don't want anybody looking through my boxes, I really don't, I don't want you looking through my boxes," Trump said, according to Corcoran’s notes. "Look, I just don't want anybody going through these things."
The notes show that Little and Corcoran repeatedly warned the presumptive Republican nominee about the consequences of not complying, saying “it's going to be a crime.”
