Judge in Trump election case directs prosecutors to turn over info related to Pence documents probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump directed prosecutors Wednesday to search for and provide to the former president's lawyers any Justice Department information related to a separate investigation into Mike Pence's handling of classified documents.

Trump's lawyers had argued that that information could be relevant to their defense to the extent it shows that Pence, Trump's vice president, had “an incentive to curry favor with authorities” and implicate Trump while facing his own investigation into the retention of classified documents in his Indiana home.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team has said it had no involvement in the Pence investigation and has “no discoverable information” on the case "beyond what has been publicly reported.” But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Smith's team to look for and produce any additional records on the investigation, noting that defense lawyers are entitled to cite evidence of a witness's uncharged conduct as a way to undermine that witness's credibility.

“Defendant is correct that information suggesting a potential witness’s motives for implicating him may be material,” Chutkan wrote.