"Evidence of a crime": Expert says special counsel filing shows Trump lawyer is "hostile witness"...

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Corcoran was recently interviewed before a grand jury in D.C. but is believed to have asserted attorney-client privilege, according to the report. After his appearance, he received a notice that the DOJ would seek to use the crime-fraud exception to pierce the privilege claims. It's unclear what crime the DOJ cited in invoking the crime-fraud exception in its motion to Judge Beryl Howell, who has repeatedly ruled in favor of the DOJ.

"The crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege is clear. If the client seeks to use the attorney to commit a crime the privilege is gone," tweeted Richard Painter, a former Republican White House ethics lawyer.

"This is an aggressive move by Jack Smith," wrote former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. "It suggests Corcoran is a hostile witness despite his own potential liability for writing a false statement to law enforcement in the Mar-a-Lago matter. It would be significant if DOJ is able to use crime-fraud to compel his testimony."

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, added that it is "not unusual" for Smith to argue that communications between Corcoran and Trump are not covered if "Trump were doing it to further a crime," noting that the judge previously ruled in favor of the DOJ on this issue in the Paul Manafort case, which he oversaw."...