According to a report, the US Department of Justice also wants to clamp down on former President Donald Trump's team in a dispute over the handling of government documents. The prosecutor's office asked a judge to take action against Trump's lawyers for contempt of court, the Washington Post reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources.

If the judge approves the motion, she could, for example, impose a daily fine. The broadcaster CNN reported that the application also affects Trump himself. A hearing should therefore take place today.

According to the newspaper, the background is the growing resentment of the public prosecutor's office over the behavior of the Trump team. The question is whether all classified information has really been returned to the government. The Justice Department has repeatedly requested written assurances from Trump's attorneys. They are said to have refused to sign such an insurance.

Months of dispute

At the same time, the team is said to have stated that all documents had been returned. According to the newspaper, the Justice Department requires Trump's lawyers to designate a person responsible who can sign a corresponding statement.

The dispute over the handling of government documents has been going on for months now: On August 8, the FBI federal police searched Trump's private property Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and confiscated documents with the annotations "Secret" and among other things "Top Secret" from his tenure. Before that, the National Archives - which is responsible for storing presidential documents - had been trying for months to get Trump's papers.

The fact that the 76-year-old stored the documents at home could have made him liable to prosecution.

It was only reported on Wednesday that at least two other secret documents had turned up in a storage room used by Trump. A team hired by the Republican made the find, US media reported. The documents, which were not described in detail, were handed over to the FBI.