Attorney Stanley Woodward has alleged that someone in President Joe Biden’s Justice Department had offered him a quid pro quo — in the form of a potentially fast-tracked judicial appointment — if he and his client were to cooperate against former President Donald Trump.

Woodward is representing Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta in the federal case regarding classified documents, and he said in a court filing that Jay Bratt — head of the Counterintelligence Section of DOJ’s National Security Division — had “suggested Woodward’s judicial application [for a DC Superior Court judgeship] might be considered more favorably if he and his client cooperated against Trump.”

The allegation was reportedly made in a letter filed under seal with Judge James Boasberg, the chief U.S. Judge in Washington, and details an incident that Woodward says took place in November of 2022, when prosecutors were attempting to convince Nauta to cooperate in the case against Trump.

[Reportedly, Trump’s attorneys demanded that the DoJ investigate this allegation before proceeding with the indictment, but were told that they would probe it in parallel. The explanation (thus far) is that Woodward was already under consideration for that appointment and it came up in the conversation. That seems a little too coincidental to swallow, though. — Ed]