US DoJ has asked federal judge to hold Trump in contempt over classified documents: Report

The US justice department has sought a top federal judge to hold ex-president Donald Trump’s political office in contempt of court for not fully complying with a grand jury subpoena that was issued in May demanding the return of all classified documents in its possession, according to a source familiar with the matter, reported the Guardian. Recently, the US chief district court judge for the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell has been asked to hold Trump’s office in contempt after prosecutors were unable to get the former president’s lawyers to designate a custodian of records to certify all records were returned. The court hearing has been scheduled for Friday at the US district court for the District of Columbia which would likely focus on some form of sanction until the former president’s office is deemed to be in compliance with the May subpoena.

However, Howell has not ruled on the matter and has remained under seal. This decision has raised stakes for Trump as he would be dealing with a criminal investigation into unauthorized retention of national security information and obstruction of justice, reported the Guardian. According to the sources, the case is about Donald Trump's legal team's reluctance to designate a custodian of records which would certify that Trump is no longer in possession of any documents marked classified and has complied with the subpoena that demanded the return of all such government records.

US Justice Department holds Trump in contempt 

The US Justice Department has communicated that If the Trump legal team could not find someone to certify under oath that all documents bearing classified markings had been returned then it would seek a judicial sanction. While responding to the subpoena, Trump's lawyer Evan Corcoran has conducted a search of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and identified a number of pertinent documents. Also, to sign a caveated certification certifying all records were returned, Corcoran got another lawyer Christina Bobb.

The long battle between Donald Trump and the US justice department has emerged a storage unit in Florida that had held boxes of material that belonged to Trump has turned up two more documents marked classified, in addition to the 103 found at Mar-a-Lago by the FBI. However, it's not clear if the justice department initiated the contempt proceeding before or after the two additional documents were found. Should Howell hold Trump’s office in contempt or not that is yet to be seen.