Trump attorney Christopher Kise wanted to see last fall if he could quietly approach the Justice Department to negotiate a settlement with the hopes that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the agency would want to avoid bringing charges against the former president, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing multiple people familiar with the matter.
Trump was not interested in settling with the Justice Department after listening to other attorneys who advocated for a more aggressive approach, so Kise did not approach prosecutors with his proposal.
Trump had returned 15 boxes of classified documents early last year, leaving at least 64 more at his home. Fitton and others had told Trump he could legally retain the documents and he should fight the federal government.
Fitton had reportedly repeatedly mentioned Judicial Watch's "Clinton socks case," which refers to tapes Bill Clinton kept in his White House sock drawer, as justification to Trump. His organization lost a lawsuit that demanded for the recordings to be handed over to the custody of the National Archives and designated as presidential records.
