Department of Justice prosecutors believe they have "sufficient evidence" to charge former President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice regarding documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in August, according to a published report Wednesday.
According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the investigation told the news outlet that the allegations stem from the possession of documents that were supposed to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration after Trump left office in 2021.
"Of all the things Trump is being investigated for around the country, obstruction of justice is a slam dunk, and I think he's going to be indicted," Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, told Bloomberg. "I don't see why a charge of obstruction of justice couldn't be filed by the end of the year."
While prosecutors feel they have enough to charge Trump, the report said that they have not taken the matter up with Attorney General Merrick Garland, who personally signed off on the federal search warrant and raid and has the final authority whether charges should be brought in the case.
The report said that while confident they have enough to go after Trump, they also realize a "path to an actual indictment is far from clear."
The documents taken in the Mar-a-Lago raid have been at the center of legal wrangling between the DOJ and Trump's team.
Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Judge Raymond Dearie as a special master to review any seized documents that contained executive, or attorney-client privilege in the case, and return them to Trump.
On Tuesday, Dearie said that he has not seen anything so far in a "small subset" of documents to back up Trump's privilege argument, the The New York Times reported.
"It's a little perplexing as I go through the log," the Times reported Dearie saying in a telephone conference call regarding the case. "What's the expression — 'Where's the beef?' I need some beef."
On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court barred Dearie from reviewing some 100 "classified" documents, denying a move by Trump for him to look at them to determine if they contained those privileges, CNBC reported.
Trump wanted the high court to overturn a lower court ruling barring Dearie from reviewing the papers.
"The application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Sept. 21, 2022, presented to Justice [Clarence] Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied," CNBC reported the court's ruling said.
According to the report, there were no dissents by any of the Supreme Court's justices noted in the order.
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