The former president’s lawyer Donald Trump His attorney has filed a legal notice announcing his intention to seek $115 million against the Justice Department and the FBI for “malicious political harassment” and “abuse of process.”
The memo, obtained by NBC News on Monday, accused the DOJ and special counsel Jack Smith of “malicious political harassment aimed at influencing the outcome of the election to prevent the re-election of President Trump.” Trump does online and at campaign events.
“This malicious prosecution has caused President Trump to spend tens of millions of dollars to defend the case and his reputation,” Trump’s lawyer, Daniel Z. Epstein, wrote in a statement of claim against the department. Epstein is a former Trump White House lawyer and now the vice president America First LawA legal group founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
The complaint states that the FBI was approved by the court search for classified documents In August 2022, Trump’s Florida mansion, like Trump’s next property, was incorrect. indictment because of the many classified documents the agents discovered during the search. Trump pleaded not guilty.
The first reported application Fox Newssaid the search violated “well-established protocol” involving former presidents, citing Trump’s social media post after the search, which said the government could access the records “anytime they want.”
“All they had to do was ask,” the Truth Social post said. The document does not mention Trump’s numerous requests from the National Archives and the Justice Department to return the records. The DOJ also issued a subpoena for the return of such documents in May 2022, and Trump’s attorney signed a statement saying all of those documents were returned that June. The search warrant was executed after the investigators received information about their arrest mislead.
The lawsuit claims the DOJ’s “process” is “unconstitutional.”
He says Smith “filed an unlawful felony charge” stemming from the search last July, noting that the case was fired Last month by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Trump’s nominee to the bench, Cannon, dismissed the case, arguing that the appointment of special counsel Smith and the funding of his investigation were illegal.
Other federal judges have rejected similar arguments previous special advisers. Smith is attractive Cannon decision.
The Ministry of Justice refused to comment.
Stephen Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, said the action was part of Trump’s fight against a “weaponized Justice Department” and that “the criminal case against Trump must be dropped immediately to restore unity to our nation.”
Trump’s notice is a necessary step in filing most civil lawsuits against the government. There is no specific time limit for the response, but if the claimant has not received a “final decision” within six months of sending the claim, then the claimant can treat this silence as a rejection and file a claim. The filing indicates that the lawsuit will be filed in Cannon’s state of Florida.
The document was signed on August 7, one day before the two-year anniversary of the search. The claim form states: “Failure to complete this form in full or to turn over the requested materials may invalidate your claim for two years from the date of the claim.”
The filing says Trump is seeking $15 million in actual damages for legal costs he incurred in defending the Special Counsel’s proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. It is not clear how much of this money came from Trump personally. NBC News previously reported Trump’s appearance using political action committee money for his legal fees.
He is also seeking $100 million in damages.
Writer E. Jean Carroll’s $83 million pending appeal defamation judgment Against Trump, his lawyers argued for a partial sentence reduction because the punitive damages are nearly four times the amount of compensatory damages. The amount he demanded in this case is more than six times the compensation amount.
It’s unclear what the action will be if Trump is re-elected president in November and whether he can direct the Justice Department to pay what he wants.