Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti has pointed out, “It will be hard for him to claim he didn’t realise that he had classified government records. Credit:APĮxperts say the initial “politeness” of authorities (meeting with Trump’s team to request and later subpoena the documents before seeking a warrant) may have actually strengthened any upcoming case against him because it suggests that crucial element for prosecutions of this kind: intent. Mar-a-Lago means “sea-to-lake” in Spanish, as it extends between the Atlantic Ocean and the former Lake Worth in Palm Beach, Florida. Overnight, when a judge ordered the DoJ to redact sections of the affidavit behind the search warrant so it could potentially be unsealed in the public interest, DoJ officials argued that such an unusual move would reveal the “road map” of an investigation still in its “early stages”, exposing sensitive material and witnesses. But the DoJ has since flagged that an ongoing criminal investigation is underway. Others say the search may have been just a means of retrieving the documents, an end in itself. Given the FBI needed to show probable cause that a crime had been committed to get its warrant, many experts have suggested that the raid indicates the Justice Department is moving closer to criminal charges for Trump. Among the inventory seized was information about the president of France and, according to The Washington Post, documents related to nuclear weapons. Those are serious enough, but the third potential charge has even bigger implications: a possible violation of the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law that criminalises any unauthorised retention or disclosure of information related to national defence that could harm the US or aid a foreign adversary. In the FBI’s search warrant, since unsealed by the Department of Justice (DoJ), obstruction of justice and mishandling of government records were listed as crimes being investigated by authorities. The third potential charge has even bigger implications: a possible violation of the Espionage Act. But when officials sifted through them, they suspected some were still unaccounted for – others were marked classified or even “torn up”. In early 2022, his team did hand over 15 boxes, which they said held all the missing documents. Yet, as president, Trump had a reputation for destroying or holding on to records he shouldn’t, even flushing papers down White House toilets.įor more than a year, the National Archives and Records Administration had been chasing documents taken to Mar-a-Lago in the chaotic final days of Trump’s presidency, including correspondence with foreign leaders such as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. By law, they belong to the American people. The battle to retrieve official presidential documents and other sensitive material from Trump has been raging since he left office. Where are the main investigations at now? How likely are criminal charges? And could any of this disrupt another Trump presidential run? Jean Carroll after he denied raping her in the ’90s – and, of course, most extraordinary of all, allegations he incited the deadly Capitol riot and tried to override legal vote certification to steal President Joe Biden’s victory. Now, along with the documents furore, he faces investigations into his company finances, his personal finances, a defamation suit brought by writer E. Since Trump took office in 2016, he’s been under near constant investigation, including two impeachments and allegations his election campaign colluded with Russia. “Trump makes Nixon look like a boy scout,” says national security law expert and former Justice Department official Professor Alan Rozenshtein. But legal experts say Trump may be in more hot water than he realises.Įven in the shadow of the Watergate wiretapping scandal that brought down president Richard Nixon in the 1970s, Trump’s legal woes are extraordinary. Trump and his backers have lashed the raid as a “witchhunt”, even drawing comparisons to the Nazi Gestapo police as they try to whip up their base. That includes information about foreign leaders but also, reportedly, nuclear weapons – some of America’s most closely guarded secrets. Some agents were dressed casually, in polo shirts and khakis, to blend in at the sprawling seaside estate as they carried out 20 boxes of documents, including 11 marked classified – sensitive material they say Trump should never have taken from the White House. When FBI agents descended on Donald Trump’s private Florida club and home Mar-a-Lago on August 8, the former president was huddled with his lawyers in New York, watching the raid unfold through CCTV cameras. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size
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