For several months now, the Federal District Court in Washington has been groundless for the Justice Department’s various attempts to address the legacy of former President Donald J. Trump.
Hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 have been prosecuted at the courthouse on Constitution Avenue. It’s where a grand jury investigated Trump’s handling of classified documents, a case that eventually led to an indictment in Florida. And it’s where a separate grand jury continues to investigate the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election in a case in which Mr. Trump was recently told he could soon be indicted.
On Thursday, two of these court proceedings collided in an unusual spectacle, when a federal judge removed the prosecutor leading the election interference investigation from a grand jury proceeding and summoned him to his courtroom. The judge, Trevor N. McFadden, was apparently angry that the district attorney, Thomas P. Windom, had prevented an attorney representing a witness before the grand jury from appearing in time to read a verdict for a January 6 defendant who the attorney also represented.
While the incident came to a quick conclusion and appeared to have resulted in little more than a public display of tension, it nonetheless reflected the complexity arising from Mr. Trump’s overcrowded legal calendar.
The former president is now indicted in Florida in the classified documents case and in New York City on charges of paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election. He could soon face two more charges — in Washington and Georgia — in connection with his attempts to tamper with the 2020 election. All of this, unfolding even as Mr. Trump is running for office again, has put tremendous strain on everyone involved — from the courts to the attorneys involved in the various legal endeavors around him.
The attorney involved in Thursday’s episode, Stanley Woodward Jr., is one of the busiest in Washington today. Mr. Woodward has worked for several Jan. 6 defendants — including one convicted last year of seditious conspiracy — while also representing Walt Nauta, Mr. Trump’s co-defendant in the classified documents case, and several witnesses embroiled in the Trump-related grand jury investigations.
Thursday’s events began when Mr. Woodward escorted one of his clients, Will Russell, a former aide to Mr. Trump, to his third appearance before one of the grand juries investigating the former president’s attempts to overturn the election.
Mr. Russell, who worked as an aide to Mr. Trump in the White House and then went on to work for him in his post-presidential position, has witnessed both that investigation and that regarding Mr. Trump’s holding of classified documents. Investigators also sought information from him in connection with an investigation into Mr Trump’s fundraising for his false claims of widespread fraud affecting the election.
On Thursday, Mr. Russell was asked a series of questions about his interactions with Mr. Trump before the former president’s departure from the White House, according to a person familiar with the appearance. More than once, Mr. Russell got up and left proceedings to confer with Mr. Woodward after prosecutors questioned his conversations with Mr. Trump, the person familiar with the appearance said.
The trouble started when Mr. Russell’s appearance before the grand jury was lengthy, causing Mr. Woodward to be late for the reading of a court order for one of his riot clients at the U.S. Capitol in front of Judge McFadden. The principal, Federico Klein, who served as a State Department official during Trump’s administration, was eventually found guilty of seven felonies, including assaulting police and obstructing official proceedings before Congress.
But before making the verdict, Judge McFadden questioned Mr Woodward as to why he had been delayed. When the judge learned it was because of the grand jury, he sent court officials to summon Mr. Windom, who works for special counsel, Jack Smith.
When Mr. Windom appeared in court, Judge McFadden had him go over part of the reading of Mr. Klein’s verdict.
It was only after the verdict was handed down that Judge McFadden conferred with Mr. Windom and Mr. Woodward. But the conversation in the sidebar was a private conversation conducted out of earshot of the public.
Mr. Russell’s grand jury action was just one indication that Mr. Smith’s team will continue to investigate election interference, even after he sent Mr. Trump a so-called target letter saying he could soon be indicted on at least three charges.
Prosecutors are also trying to schedule a voluntary interview with Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City Police Commissioner who worked closely with Mr. Trump’s attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who is investigating claims of post-election fraud. Mr. Giuliani sat for his own voluntary interview with Mr. Smith’s office last month.
Zach Montague contributed reporting from Washington.
