Donald Trump privately expressed concerns that turning over potentially classified documents in his possession after a May 2022 subpoena could result in criminal charges while repeatedly engaging in what prosecutors have described as an effort to enlist his lawyers to lie and destroy documents for his benefit, according to transcripts of audio notes reviewed by ABC News.
Prosecutors allege that rather than comply with the subpoena, Trump opted to hide dozens of classified documents from his own lawyers, and federal agents eventually seized 102 classified documents -- including 17 top secret documents -- after they executed a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022.
The notes, which ABC News first reported on last year, are at the center of an ongoing legal battle in the former president's federal classified documents case, where prosecutors have used the detailed notes about Trump's behavior and statements as key evidence to demonstrate that the former president attempted to obstruct justice by hiding documents from investigators.
Aileen Cannon, the judge overseeing the case, is hearing arguments today on Trump's effort to limit prosecutors' use of the notes and to have the entire case dismissed based on the role of the notes in the government's case.
Two months before agents searched Mar-a-Lago, Trump's former lead attorney Evan Corcoran's notes -- which prosecutors have used to bolster their case against the former president -- describe that Trump repeatedly blamed his legal troubles on his "political enemies," was reluctant to allow the review of boxes that prosecutors say contained dozens of classified documents, and engaged in conduct that prosecutors believe was an effort to "corrupt" his attorneys by concealing Trump's alleged retention of classified documents.
"He raised a question as to, if we gave them additional documents now, would they, would they, the Department of Justice, come back and say well, why did you withhold them and try to use that as a basis for criminal liability or to make him look bad in the press," according to Corcoran's notes about what Trump asked his attorneys in May 2022 after prosecutors subpoenaed the former president to turn over any classified documents in his possession, records reviewed by ABC News say.
"Well look isn't it better if there are no documents?" Trump also asked his attorneys after raising concerns about prosecutors "opening up new fronts against him," according to Corcoran's notes.
A spokesperson for the special counsel's office declined to comment to ABC News. A spokesperson with The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors alleged in a recent court filing that Trump attempted to "enlist [Corcoran] in the corrupt endeavor" by suggesting he falsely tell the FBI that Trump did not have classified documents or that he hide or destroy them rather than turn them over.
"Trump tried to enlist his attorney in his criminal endeavor, tested his attorney's receptiveness, and then manipulated his attorney to achieve his criminal ends when the attorney did not accept his overtures," prosecutors wrote in a recent filing.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to a 40-count indictment related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government's efforts to get the documents back. Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
Defense lawyers have repeatedly argued that the notes from Trump's lawyer are protected by attorney-client privilege, but a federal judge in Washington D.C. last year determined that notes could be used as evidence after prosecutors demonstrated that Trump deliberately misled his attorneys in furtherance of a crime, piercing attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers.