WASHINGTON - Lawyers for former US president Donald Trump met Department of Justice (DOJ) officials on Monday to argue against charging him in a federal probe over his handling of classified documents, The Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.
The department is investigating whether Trump mishandled sensitive government materials he kept after leaving the White House in 2021.
It is one of several criminal probes he faces as he seeks to regain the presidency in 2024.
At least two of his lawyers sought to make their case at the department, the Post said.
It was not immediately clear what any potential meeting between the lawyers and the department may mean for Trump. Lawyers will typically meet DOJ representatives before an indictment is handed down.
Representatives of the department declined to comment on the reports.
Trump is the first American president ever to face criminal charges, having pleaded not guilty in April to felony charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to a porn star before his election in 2016.
Trump, the front runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has described himself as the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt and has accused the DOJ of partisan bias.
CNN, which also reported the lawyers’ meeting, said the grand jury was expected to hear from another witness in the documents case this week, following similar reporting by NBC News at the weekend.
Representatives for Trump also could not be immediately reached. His lawyers in May sent the department a letter asking for a meeting with US Attorney-General Merrick Garland.
Mr Garland has tapped Special Counsel Jack Smith to oversee the documents case as well as the role of Trump and others in a wide range of actions surrounding his election loss that culminated in his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.
Trump at the weekend cited media reports that federal prosecutors “want to indict me” over the documents and said he was “at least as innocent” as his former vice-president Mike Pence, who faced no charges after cooperating with the authorities when a classified document was found in his Indiana home in 2022.
Federal investigators are examining whether Trump and his associates broke the law by retaining US documents after leaving the White House, and whether they then tried to obstruct the DOJ’s investigation.
Trump also faces a state-level probe by a Georgia county prosecutor. REUTERS
