Global Courant
With former President Donald Trump emerging as the front-runner to win his party’s 2024 presidential nomination, the announcement of allegations of illegal possession of classified documents is expected to dominate American political debate in the coming months. next.
As Democrats and Republicans take opposing positions on what former President Trump has done, what other politicians have done, and what the law requires, the facts of this case are likely to become increasingly complicated.
Below is a summary of what is known about the case, based on the court filing and official statements.
National Archives
The charges announced June 8 stemmed from an investigation into former President Trump’s unauthorized possession of a series of classified government documents after he left the White House in January 2021, which he sent to his home in Mar-a -Lago.
President Trump did so despite an obligation under the Presidential Records Act, which requires outgoing presidents to turn over all records to the National Archives Administration.
Beginning in May 2021, National Archives Administration officials repeatedly asked former President Trump to return the documents, warning that they would refer the matter to the Justice Department if he did not comply, the indictment said. .
After months of procrastination by the former president, his representatives finally returned 15 boxes of documents in January 2022, nearly a year after he left the White House.
Officials of the National Archives Administration were alarmed when they discovered that the boxes contained 197 classified documents.
In February 2022, the National Archives Administration referred the case to the Department of Justice.
On March 30, 2022, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the matter. The following month, a federal grand jury convened to review testimony and other evidence related to the case.
FBI check
That led to a months-long investigation and effort by the Justice Department to recover documents still in former President Trump’s possession.
In May 2022, the grand jury sent a subpoena to former President Trump to turn over all classified documents to the Department of Justice.
Mr. Trump instead sought to “obstruct” the investigation and “conceal” his possession of classified documents, according to the lawsuit.
On June 3, 2022, former President Trump’s lawyers turned over 38 more secret documents, but the alleged withholding prompted the lawyers to tell the Justice Department that a “careful search” had been conducted at Mar-a-Lago and there were no no additional documents left inside the house.
This certification was false, prosecutors say. According to the indictment, former President Trump knew that not all documents had been returned to the Department of Justice.
The situation escalated when the court-ordered FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8, seizing another 102 classified documents from former President Trump’s office and a storage room at his Florida home.
The unprecedented search of a former president’s home led former President Trump and his allies to accuse the Biden administration of “using” the Justice Department and the FBI to go after political opponents. Administration officials denied the charge.
Secret documents
In total, prosecutors have obtained more than 300 secret government documents from former President Trump’s home.
The indictment lists 37 documents that Mr. Trump “willfully withheld” and did not return to the government. They were compiled by various US intelligence and security agencies, including the CIA, the National Security Agency and the FBI.
Disputes on the issue of classification of documents
As president, Donald Trump had access to all secret government documents. But after his term ended, he was not authorized to possess or keep them, prosecutors say.
To see national security documents, former presidents can make a request, called a “need to know” the contents of a particular secret document. Former President Trump did not do this after leaving the White House, the indictment states.
Former President Trump has claimed he had a “standing order” to declassify all documents obtained from the Oval Office in the White House, suggesting that documents in his possession were declassified.
Although Mr. Trump had the authority to declassify any government document as president, some legal experts have questioned his assertion of a sweeping order on the matter.
What’s more, prosecutors say the former president knew the documents he took to Mar-a-Lago were classified.
The indictment cites two instances in which Mr. Trump showed classified documents to unauthorized individuals while admitting they were classified.
Federal investigation
According to the indictment, former President Trump violated seven different laws, including 31 counts of “intentionally withholding” national defense information under the Espionage Act.
Violation of any statutory provision of the Espionage Act is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
The other charges are: conspiracy to obstruct justice, failure to deliver and conceal for corrupt purposes a document or record, concealment of documents during a federal investigation and failure to report to the FBI and grand jury possession of classified documents.
Charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and concealing a document during a federal investigation could lead to up to 20 years in prison.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Other cases
To dilute the legitimacy of the investigation, Mr. Trump and his allies have criticized the Justice Department, apparently saying it has allowed other officials, such as President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, to get away with illegally withholding documents. classified.
But legal experts say Mr. Trump’s case is different from others. Mr. Biden’s lawyers said they immediately returned 16 classified documents after they found them in Mr. Biden’s former office in Washington and his home in Delaware.
About 12 classified documents were found at Mr Pence’s home in Indiana and returned to the National Archives.
Neither Mr. Biden nor Mr. Pence have been charged with intentionally withholding the documents or for objecting to their return.
Special counsel Robert Hur is investigating Mr. Biden’s retention of documents.
But even if Mr. Biden is found to have illegally withheld classified documents, he likely won’t face charges because the Justice Department has long held that a sitting president cannot be impeached. says Jordan Strauss, a former Justice Department official.
The Justice Department told Mr. Pence this month that the investigation into him was closed and that he would not be charged.
Presidential campaign
John Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor, said there was no law barring Mr. Trump from running for president, even if he were found guilty. “There have been people who have run for office from prison cells,” Mr Malcolm said.
In 2002, former representative Jim Traficant ran for re-election to Congress while in prison on corruption charges. VOA
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