Potential blow for Trump as lawyer-turned-witness leaves legal team, report says

Evan Corcoran

A longtime attorney for Donald Trump who is expected to be a key witness in a criminal case targeting the former president’s possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago has reportedly left his legal team.

Evan Corcoran, who recused himself from the Florida case last year, is no longer representing the former president in any of his criminal and civil cases, according to CNN, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Mr Corcoran quickly found himself at the centre of the classified documents case after he was hired to represent the former president, who faces a 40-count indictment alleging violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction, and the illegal removal of federal records after he left the White House.

His prolific notes and voice recordings that reportedly detail his exchanges with Mr Trump have become central to special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution, revealing how the former president allegedly misled his then-attorney about his mishandling of sensitive documents and attempts to evade a subpoena.

Mr Corcoran ultimately stepped down from the case one year ago following his testimony to a federal grand jury while his client tried, and failed, to block his communications by invoking attorney-client privilege.

A ruling from a federal appeals court panel last year effectively forced Mr Corcoran to turn over documents – including recordings of Mr Trump – to the grand jury.

Despite his recusal from the case, Mr Corcoran later joined Mr Trump at a federal courthouse in Washington DC when the former president was arraigned on charges connected to his scheme to overturn election results in 2020.

The Independent has requested comment from Mr Corcoran and a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.

A statement from Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung to CNN claims that Mr Corcoran remains on the former president’s legal team.

But the alleged departure of a key lawyer listed as “Trump Attorney 1” in the Mar-a-Lago indictment could potentially pose a liability for the presumed Republican nominee for president as he battles four separate criminal cases in four jurisdictions, with his so-called hush money trial for allegedly falsifying business records due to begin on 15 April.

Mr Corcoran’s detailed memos have provided prosecutors with evidence of an alleged scheme to undermine subpoenas from the US Department of Justice – and Mr Trump’s own apparent request to get rid of potentially damning evidence in his possession.

At one point, after Mr Corcoran performed a search of Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump appeared to ask him if he found anything incriminating among a cache of 38 documents and suggested he “pluck” them out, according to prosecutors.

“Did you find anything? … Is it bad? Good?” Mr Trump said, according to the indictment.

Mr Trump then reportedly discussed bringing documents to his hotel room and made a “plucking motion” during their conversation.

“OK, why don’t you take them with you to your hotel room and if there’s anything really bad in there, like, you know, pluck it out,” Mr Corcoran interpreted the conversation, according to his interview with investigators.

Brian Butler, a Mar-a-Lago worker identified in the indictment as “Trump Employee 5,” also told CNN that Mr Corcoran unknowingly helped Mr Trump move several boxes allegedly containing classified materials to an airport while Mr Trump was greeting federal investigators at his property in June 2022.

A political action committee that is largely serving as the bank for Mr Trump’s legal fees paid $1.2m to Mr Corcoran’s law firm in 2022, according to federal filings. His firm received at least another $2.2m last year, filings show.

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