Former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign is slamming reports concerning a U.S. District Court chief judge's order that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of former President Donald Trump's attorneys could be removed, and that one of the lawyers, Evan Corcoran, could be forced to testify and turn over related documents.
"Prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever," the campaign said in its statement, posted on Twitter. "These leaks are happening because there is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump.
"The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system to manipulate public opinion because they are clearly losing the political battle."
The statement came before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday night temporarily stayed the order from now-former Chief Judge Beryl Howell, made on her last day in the position Friday.
The appeals court order required Trump's attorneys to supply documents in question by midnight and for special counsel Jack Smith's team to respond by 6 a.m. Wednesday, Politico reported.
The appeals court’s order was signed by Judges Cornelia Pillard, J. Michelle Childs, and Florence Pan, all of whom are Democrat appointees.
The midnight deadline was determined after Smith's prosecutors presented evidence that Trump had allegedly misled Corcoran about sensitive materials that were being kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, reports Newsweek.
In her order, Howell wrote that Corcoran must testify based on the "crime-fraud exception," which allows ordinarily privileged evidence to be investigated if it contains evidence of criminal activity.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg has replaced Howell as chief judge, but after Howell issued the privilege ruling.
Trump's campaign, in its statement, also attacked ABC News for an anonymously sourced report about Howell's decision.
"The real story here, that Fake News ABC SHOULD be reporting on, is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever," the statement said. "President Trump is the only leader fighting for the Constitution to protect the American people from being abused by a crooked system."
Smith is leading a grand jury's investigation of Trump after a battle for months between him and the National Archives over the return of hundreds of government records he had been keeping at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Some records that have been returned had classification markings, leading the National Archives to seek an investigation through the Justice Department to determine if Trump had kept more classified documents.
Corcoran was Trump's primary point of contact with the Archives and the Justice Department. In June, Corcoran turned over 38 additional records to prosecutors, after the DOJ issued a subpoena for remaining documents bearing classified markings, reports The Hill. He also drafted a document saying all classified records had been surrendered, but another attorney signed off on it.
The Trump team asked the court to block Howell's decision, according to docket entries first reported by CNN.
Tuesday night's stay did not signal if the appeals court will keep Howell's order from continuing.
Howell continues to hold power over matters involving Trump and his inner circle, including on Tuesday, when she presided over a hearing in a lawsuit filed against former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani by two Georgia election workers.
During that hearing, Howell scolded Giuliani and his attorney, saying they did not adequately respond to required evidence exchanges.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.