WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump walks out of the White House before departing July 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump is traveling to New Jersey to host a fundraising dinner and spend the weekend at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. (Photo: Getty)
Donald Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise reportedly tried to get Trump to settle the classified documents case with the Department of Justice last fall to avoid potential charges. Trump declined the proposal.
The former president made history last week as the first to face criminal charges. He was indicted on 37 counts for mishandling classified documents after his time in office. The indictment alleges that he ignored officials’ attempts to retrieve the documents and misled his legal team about how many he had taken and concealed at his residence at Mar-a-Lago. He is also accused of obstructing justice by intentionally damaging documents to keep them from the FBI.
According to The Washington Post, Kise urged Trump to agree to a deal with the Department of Justice that would require Trump to turn over all the documents he took from the White House. Kise hoped that officials would avoid indicting the former president upon retrieving the classified information.
This is not the first proposal that Trump got from his attorneys to try and settle.
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Other defense lawyers, however, convinced Trump to be uncooperative with the investigation, so Kise never took his proposal to the Department of Justice.
After Kise’s offer was rejected, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as the special counsel to oversee the investigation. A grand jury formally indicted Trump last week.
Trump was arrested and booked at the Miami federal courthouse on Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
Trump’s legal team was in turmoil leading up to the arraignment, as two of his lawyers quit days before the court appearance. The reasons for their leaving are unknown, but Trump’s inability to keep attorneys has seemed to become a pattern.
Kise and Trump have declined to comment on reports regarding Kise’s proposal.
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