Lindsey R. Halligan, a member of Donald Trump's legal team, told Newsmax that forced testimony by Evan Corcoran violated the former president's attorney-client privileges.
Joining "Rob Schmitt Tonight" on Friday, Halligan said Trump's right to legal counsel was denied after the federal grand jury probing classified files discovered at Mar-a-Lago called Corcoran, his lawyer, to testify in a hearing.
"Evan Corcoran is a great attorney, and he was forced to testify in front of a grand jury about communications that he had with President Trump," Halligan said. "It's truly historic. Once an attorney-client privilege is pierced, the harm is irreparable.
"What we're seeing is the government really taking away President Trump's right to counsel," she concluded.
Halligan said this was not the first time the Department of Justice has gone after Trump's rights, noting that his right to "executive privilege" in legal proceedings has consistently not been respected.
The former president's rights to privacy and free speech have also been targeted, Halligan said.
Her comments arrive hours after Corcoran answered questions at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., about his interactions with Trump under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privileges.
Corcoran initially received DOJ special counsel John L. Smith's attention after Trump lawyer Christina Bobb told federal investigators that he crafted the important filing that led to the Aug. 8 raid.
In the statement, Trump's legal team attested that all sensitive documents inquired about were returned to the National Archives during a June visit by DOJ officials, ABC News reported.
However, the FBI search two months later found over 100 documents with classification markings, at least 76 of which were in the same storage room.
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