Reacting to a glib remark by a lawyer of former president Donald Trump concerning the use of a folder labeled "Classified Evening Briefing," at the center of a recent subpoena issued by the Department of Justice, one MSNBC political analyst suggested the former president's legal representatives aren't taking the case seriously enough.
Over the weekend the Guardian's Hugo Lowell reported that special counsel Jack Smith issued the subpoena demanding the return of the folder -- which was empty when taken into custody -- months after similar documents and folders were recovered from Mar-a-Lago after FBI agents executed a search that outraged the former president, who called it a "raid."
As attorney Dennis Aftrergut argued for the Bulwark, the very fact that Smith sought what turned out to be an empty folder is a sign that he is leaving "no stone unturned" in his investigation of the former president and that should be concerning to Trump's lawyers.
In his column, MSNBC's Steve Benen agreed and, based on Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore's smirking response that the hubbub over the folder was much ado about nothing, stated the fact that the DOJ still pursuing evidence is nothing to laugh about since it is more evidence of obstruction of justice -- a reported line of investigation for Smith.
"According to the lawyer’s version of events, Trump was bothered by a light on his phone, so he blocked it with a 'Classified Evening Summary' folder he took from the White House. (The former president recently described folders like these as “a ‘cool’ keepsake” with 'various words printed on them.') Parlatore went on to describe this as 'one of the more humorous aspects of this whole thing.'" Benen reported.
He then added, "I’m glad the attorney is able to find some levity in the scandal, but it remains a rather serious matter. Indeed, the question that’s difficult to laugh off at this point is why, more than two years after Trump left the White House, he and his team are still making disclosures like these."
"Let’s not forget that it was in May 2021 when the National Archives and Records Administration first reached out to the former president’s team, asking for the return of missing documents. It was in May 2022 when Team Trump received a subpoena. It was in June 2022 when the former president’s representatives said he and his operation no longer had any relevant materials in their possession," he wrote. "And it was yesterday when Trump’s lawyer said his client was using a 'Classified Evening Summary' folder as a lampshade."
He then warned, "Let’s also note that the latest disclosures were voluntary and the result of a search from an outside firm. In contrast, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence invited the FBI to search their homes. To state the obvious, we haven’t heard the last of this one."
You can read his whole piece here.
