Judge orders Trump pros­e­cu­tors to dish in col­lu­sion case

Judge orders Trump prosecutors to dish in collusion case

A fed­er­al judge has ordered the Jus­tice Depart­ment to turn over com­mu­ni­ca­tions between ex-Trump pros­e­cu­tor Jack Smith and the president’s Geor­gia antag­o­nist, Ful­ton Coun­ty Dis­trict Attor­ney Fani Willis, in what a legal watch­dog group has called a case of col­lu­sion.

The order from U.S. Dis­trict Judge Dab­ney L. Friedrich fol­lowed the end of Smith’s 2020 elec­tion inter­fer­ence case against Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump and Smith’s own res­ig­na­tion from his spe­cial pros­e­cu­tor role.

Judi­cial Watch had sought the com­mu­ni­ca­tions in a Free­dom of Infor­ma­tion Act law­suit but has been stalled by Smith and Jus­tice, claim­ing that dis­clos­ing any infor­ma­tion would hurt the pros­e­cu­tion.

Friedrich, based in Wash­ing­ton, said since there no longer is a case, turn­ing over the doc­u­ments won’t jeop­ar­dize any case.

In his Jan. 28 order, he wrote, “Since DOJ filed its motion for sum­ma­ry judg­ment and sup­port­ing Dec­la­ra­tion in March 2024, the Spe­cial Counsel’s crim­i­nal enforce­ment actions have been ter­mi­nat­ed…. The cas­es are ‘closed — not pend­ing or con­tem­plat­ed — and there­fore are not pro­ceed­ings with which dis­clo­sure may inter­fere.’ … Thus, the agency’s sole jus­ti­fi­ca­tion for invok­ing the Glo­mar doc­trine under Exemp­tion 7(A) is no longer applic­a­ble.”

He added, “Accord­ing­ly, the court will deny DOJ’s motion for sum­ma­ry judg­ment and grant the plaintiff’s cross motion. DOJ is direct­ed to process the plaintiff’s FOIA request and either ‘dis­close any [respon­sive] records or estab­lish both that their con­tents are exempt from dis­clo­sure and that such exemp­tion has not also been waived.’”

He explained that the Glo­mar doc­trine applies when con­firm­ing or deny­ing the exis­tence of records would itself cause harm to a case.

Judi­cial Watch had been seek­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tions between Smith’s office and the Ful­ton Coun­ty dis­trict attor­ney “request­ing or receiv­ing fed­er­al funds or oth­er fed­er­al assis­tance in any form relat­ing to the inves­ti­ga­tion” of Trump and oth­ers in the 2020 elec­tion case. The group also sought any oth­er com­mu­ni­ca­tions between the two.

The stalling angered Judi­cial Watch Pres­i­dent Tom Fit­ton, who said, “Pres­i­dent Trump tru­ly needs to over­haul the Jus­tice Depart­ment from top to bot­tom. It is a scan­dal that a fed­er­al court had to order the Jus­tice Depart­ment to admit the truth that their objec­tions to pro­duc­ing records about col­lu­sion with Fani Willis had no basis in real­i­ty.”

Trump’s team has been look­ing into cas­es for­mer Pres­i­dent Joe Biden’s Jus­tice Depart­ment brought against the for­mer and cur­rent pres­i­dent.

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It is unclear what may be in any com­mu­ni­ca­tions, though Judi­cial Watch has alleged col­lu­sion.

A Geor­gia judge has already ordered Willis to turn over her com­mu­ni­ca­tions with Smith to Judi­cial Watch. She also had to pay about $20,000 to Judi­cial Watch to cov­er their legal fees.