Earlier this week, a federal court rejected the DOJ's motion to hold former President Donald Trump in contempt for allegedly disobeying a grand jury subpoena, according to a report by Breitbart News.
Political investigations reporter for The Guardian, who covers former President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice, Hugo Lowell, tweeted about the issue.
"Just in: Chief US judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell did not hold Trump office in contempt of court today over subpoena noncompliance and told the Trump legal team and DOJ to resolve the dispute themselves, per people familiar — story coming," Lowell said.
Just in: Chief US judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell did not hold Trump office in contempt of court today over subpoena noncompliance and told the Trump legal team and DOJ to resolve the dispute themselves, per people familiar — story coming.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 9, 2022
Trump's alleged failure to comply with a subpoena issued in May that demanded Trump's custodian of records turn over any documents marked classified that the former president had in his possession prompted the action.
According to recent reprots his actions led DOJ attorneys to ask Chief U.S. Judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell to hold Trump in contempt.
But between January and June, the Trump campaign provided federal law enforcement with boxes and other records.
The August raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, when the FBI collected hundreds of documents and other unrelated items from Trump's residence, was the result of an investigation into how Trump handled White House papers after his administration ended.
Because Friday's sessions involved grand jury proceedings, they were confidential and closed to the public.
NEW: Federal judge declines to hold Donald Trump or his legal team in contempt of court as the Justice Department had requested, sources tell ABC News. https://t.co/FvACtEDM7B
— ABC News (@ABC) December 9, 2022
Following the judge's denial of their attempt to hold Trump in contempt, the DOJ made no comments. However, after the judge's ruling, Trump's campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung stated that the former president is still committed to cooperating fully with the DOJ's inquiry into his handling of White House records.
Cheung said:
The President and his counsel will continue to be transparent and cooperative, even in the face of the highly weaponized and corrupt witch-hunt from the Department of Justice.
Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 emails after they were subpoenaed by Congress, yet absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. If the Department of Justice can go after President Trump, they will surely come after any American who they disagree with. President Trump is the only one who stands in the way of the un-American weaponization of law enforcement.
According to reports, Judge Howell allegedly asked the DOJ and Trump's attorneys to settle the dispute out of court.