 The next criminal charges former President Donald Trump will face may be from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s possession of nearly 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. John, this is huge: these would be the first federal charges against the former president.
So…what happened at Mar-a-Lago? Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (passed after Watergate), presidential records are considered federal property and are required to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration when the president leaves office. On January 20, 2021, Trump left the White House for his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. In May 2021, NARA found that documents were missing from the materials Trump’s team left behind. After several months and repeated attempts to retrieve additional documents, on May 11, 2022, the Justice Department obtained a grand jury subpoena seeking “any and all” documents bearing classification markings in Trump’s possession. The Justice Department then got a search warrant allowing FBI agents to search Mar-a-Lago, where they seized more than 100 highly classified documents from both the storage room and desks in Trump’s personal office in August 2022. John, some of these documents were so sensitive that even FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys reviewing them required additional clearances. In November 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as Special Counsel to investigate interference with the transfer of power following the 2020 election as well as Trump’s retention of classified records and potential obstruction of justice. Can Trump really be charged? The FBI and Department of Justice routinely prosecute individuals for misusing classified documents. There are several criminal provisions that may be implicated, depending on what’s in the documents:
Why is Trump’s case different? In recent months, classified documents have been found in former Vice President Mike Pence’s home and in President Biden’s home and Washington think tank. But there are significant differences between their cases and Trump’s: based on the information we have to date, Biden and Pence don't seem to have even known about the documents, they had very few documents, and they complied quickly and completely with law enforcement. Trump’s refusal to cooperate with law enforcement to return those documents now places him in legal peril. It is very likely that Trump will soon face his first federal indictment for his possession and mishandling of over 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. CREW has been fighting for years to hold Trump accountable for every single crime he has committed, including for his consistent and deliberate disregard of federal records laws. Holding him accountable for his possession, misuse, and mishandling of classified documents would be one critical piece of accountability. Make a donation to CREW today to ensure we hold Trump accountable for this, and every single law-breaking action he has taken → If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
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