Trump lawyers in court for hearing in Mar-a-Lago documents case

Lawyers for Donald Trump were in court on Friday for sealed arguments as part of the ongoing investigation into the presence of classified information at the former president’s Florida estate.

The proceedings were taking place before US District Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge of the federal court in the District of Columbia.

Defence lawyers were seen entering the courtroom around 2pm and were still inside more than an hour later. The lawyers spoke behind closed doors.

It was not immediately clear what the outcome of the proceedings were. The Washington Post, relying on anonymous sources, reported on Thursday that the Justice Department had earlier asked Judge Howell to hold Mr Trump’s office in contempt for failure to fully comply with a May subpoena that sought the return of classified documents in his possession.

The department also wants the Trump team to appoint a custodian of records who could attest that all classified documents have been returned, according to the Post.

Lawyers for Mr Trump declined to comment ahead of the hearing. A Justice Department spokesman also declined to comment on the matter.

The 100 or so documents the FBI took from Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in August were on top of 37 bearing classification markings that Trump lawyers retrieved from the Florida home during a June visit.

In addition, 15 boxes containing about 184 classified documents were recovered in January by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The possibility that the Justice Department had not yet recovered all classified materials has existed for months.

The FBI’s August search of the home came after investigators developed evidence indicating that additional sensitive documents remained there, even though Trump representatives had certified in June that all classified documents requested in a Justice Department subpoena had been located and returned.

The Trump lawyer who made that representation and who was serving as the custodian of his records at the time, Christina Bobb, met the FBI in October.

She told investigators that she had not drafted the letter but that another Trump lawyer who she said actually prepared it had asked her to sign it in her role as a designated custodian of Trump’s records, according to a person familiar with her account.

The Post reported earlier this week that two additional documents with classification markings were found during a recent search of a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida that was arranged by Mr Trump’s lawyers. Those items were then turned over to the FBI.