A legal expert mentioned espionage law charges as prosecutors gathered evidence that Trump sometimes showed confidential documents to others and kept them in a place where they could be seen by others in his office.
In a scathing and well-documented report from the Washington Post today, we learned: “Prosecutors have also gathered evidence to suggest that Trump at times kept classified documents in his office in a place where they were visible, and sometimes other, these people showed.” called.
Taken together, the new details of the classified documents investigation suggest that the cases of possible disability identified by the FBI and Department of Justice are broader and more specific than previously reported.”
Even during his presidency, when Trump treated Mar-a-Lago like a “Winter White House,” he kept no visitor logs or any other visitor-tracking system. Forbes has documented some of the thousands of visitors through a compilation of shared photos and other means, showing a range from conspiracy theorists to former MEP Nigel Farage, Ray J and the former general who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators Michael Flynn (Roger Stone, who was accused by the government of undermining the Russia investigation by lying about his communications with Wikileaks and intimidating a witness, was found guilty of seven counts but later pardoned by Trump alongside the usual suspects of Republican and conservative activists were also the son of Brazilian President Eduardo Bolsonaro and Lee Dong-sup, who was a member of South Korea’s parliament in 2018, representatives from Brazil, South Korea and Russia – see.
The list is not comforting, especially from a man who made a “joke” about his larger “red button” just last night.
Commenting on this incredibly disturbing news, Ryan Goodman, former Department of Defense special counsel and associate editor of Just Security, wrote: “I expect this will result in charges under the Espionage Act. Diffusion is key.”
2. Trump’s reported conduct in retaining confidential documents is already more serious than the average case in which the Justice Department files indictments.
The COMMUNICATION or TRANSMISSION of secret documents to third parties is considered far more outrageous. pic.twitter.com/54nQ3r3bDU
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 25, 2023
“The reported circumstances now go far beyond a mere case of disability. Intentional disclosure to third parties is also easily distinguished from Pence, Biden, and other cases where the DOJ has declined to prosecute (e.g., Alberto Gonzales),” Goodman continued.
In the next tweet, he highlighted an excerpt from that breaking news: “A second employee helping Walt Nauta move boxes to the storage room the day before the FBI visit on June 3.”
The next day… “the employee helped Nauta pack an SUV ‘when former President Trump left for Bedminster.'”
Goodman cited a section that said the Justice Department had “evidence that even before Trump’s office received the subpoena in May, Trump held what some officials called a ‘dress rehearsal’ for moving government documents that he did not want to disclose”, from which he concludes that the following two fees are applicable:
18 USC 1519 – Disability
18 USC 793(e) – willful restraint
People familiar with the situation told the Post reporters that “Smith’s team has completed most of its investigative work in the document case and believes it has uncovered a handful of clear incidents of obstructive behavior,” one of which occurred AFTER the FBI’s Aug. 8 search .
Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the classified documents case, even claiming during an appearance on March Fox that he had “the right to take classified documents to Mar-a-Lago and its recent CNN City Hall when asked.” , whether he had shown the secret documents to anyone else and said, “Not really…I would have the right to…not that I can imagine.”
In reality, the intentional disclosure of classified information without authorization is a federal crime under the Espionage Act, which is why Goodman mentions it in this case. The penalty can be up to 10 years in prison or even a charge of treason.
Trump has called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
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