Washington Post: “Justice Department and FBI investigators have amassed fresh evidence pointing to possible obstruction by former president Donald Trump in the investigation into top-secret documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home, according to people familiar with the matter. The additional evidence comes as investigators have used emails and text messages from a former Trump aide to help understand key moments last year, said the people, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. The new details highlight the degree to which special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified national security papers at Trump’s Florida home and private club has come to focus on the obstruction elements of the case — whether the former president took or directed actions to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records. The emphasis on obstruction marks a key distinction so far between the Mar-a-Lago investigation and a separate Justice Department probe into how a much smaller number of classified documents ended up in an insecure office of President Biden’s, as well as his Delaware home. The Trump investigation is much further along than the Biden probe, which began in November and is being overseen by a different special counsel, Robert K. Hur. Biden’s lawyers say they have quickly handed over all classified documents found in Biden’s possession. The Trump investigation team has spent much of its time focusing on events that happened after Trump’s advisers received a subpoena in May demanding the return of all documents with classified markings, the people familiar with the matter said. Smith is trying to determine if Trump or others mishandled national security documents, and if there is enough evidence to ask a grand jury to charge him with obstructing the investigation…”

See also NPR – “The judge handling the unusual and historic case is Juan Manuel Merchan, a veteran of the New York court system who has spent more than 15 years on the bench and is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions — particularly those involving Trump and his associates. This is perhaps Merchan’s most noteworthy case yet, as it’s the first time that a former U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime…”

See also Law Dork: “The former president of the United States is due to be arraigned on multiple criminal charges Tuesday, setting in motion the first of what could be as many as three criminal proceedings against Donald J. Trump in the coming months. The arraignment in New York court — coming out of an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office and last week’s announced grand jury indictment of Trump — is scheduled to take place 19 months before the 2024 election, and it is reportedly focused on the hush money payment given to Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election…”