DOJ Seeks To Hold Trump's Team In Contempt For Failing To Comply With Subpoena

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell to hold Donald Trump's office in contempt of court for failing to comply with the May subpoena to return classified documents the former president moved from the White House.

The court hearing to decide whether the former president's team will be held in contempt is scheduled for Friday.

Last week, the U.S. appeals court reversed a judge's appointment of an independent arbiter to vet documents seized by the FBI from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. The court also allowed all evidence to be used in a criminal investigation of the former president.

The DOJ has alleged that even though Trump's team has said all classified documents were returned, they have been unwilling to appoint a legal custodian of records to sign a sworn statement affirming this claim.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said in a statement to the Washington Post that "his counsel continue to be cooperative and transparent, despite the unprecedented, illegal and unwarranted attack against President Trump and his family by the weaponized Department of Justice."

Trump's legal team has searched his other properties in response to the DOJ and judge's instructions to return any remaining classified documents. Trump's team returned at least two items with classification markings to the government.

Trump's advisers told the FBI that the items were found in a storage facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. The other Trump properties searched in recent weeks include his Bedminster golf course in New Jersey and his home and office at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

The DOJ's request to hold Trump's team in contempt comes after the Trump Organization and Trump Payroll Corp were convicted of 17 counts of tax fraud and falsifying business records on Tuesday in an unrelated case.