Former U.S. prosecutor Kash Patel has testified to a grand jury about the documents federal authorities seized from former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida.
Patel confirmed the testimony after anonymously sourced reports, including articles by CNN and The Washington Post, said he was granted immunity. The anonymous sources were allegedly describing sealed, or secret, court records.
“Mr. Patel categorically denies reaching any immunity ‘deal’ with the government. Rather, his testimony was compelled over his objection through the only legal means available to the government—a grant of limited immunity,” Patel’s spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Patel helped spearhead the House Republican investigation into the anti-Trump dossier funded by Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. He also held several roles in the Trump administration, including in the National Security Council and as the chief of staff to Acting Department of Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
After Patel left office, Trump named him as a representative to the National Archives and Records Administration.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was raided in August. FBI agents seized thousands of documents, including about 100 documents with classified markings. Trump is under investigation for possible violation of several statutes, including the Espionage Act.
According to the anonymously sourced reports, Patel appeared before the grand jury in October but invoked the Fifth Amendment while declining to answer questions. Prosecutors then decided to grant Patel limited immunity, and a judge agreed.
During Patel’s second appearance, he answered questions about public statements that he was present when Trump declassified documents. Trump said he had declassified all the materials with classified markings that were seized from Mar-a-Lago.
The Department of Justice didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The stories are the latest that appear to stem from sources within the agency.
Jay Bratt, chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section at the department’s National Security Division, was questioned about the apparent leaks during a hearing by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee overseeing a lawsuit Trump brought over the seizure.
Bratt said that he wasn’t aware of leaks “on the party of anybody that I’m working with.”
“Obviously, I see the same things in the press that other people do. It’s bad. People are talking,” he said, adding that he didn’t “condone it in any way.”
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