Even though the affidavit released in redacted form by the Justice Department today leaves many questions unanswered, an attorney who specializes in national security law says three details we did get to see point to failed, one-term former president Donald Trump being indicted.
In a column he wrote for The Daily Beast, Bradley Moss explained “three essential points” he sees in the affidavit:
Trump was in unauthorized possession of national defense information, namely properly marked classified documents. He was put on notice by the U.S. Government that he was not permitted to retain those documents at Mar-a-Lago. He continued to maintain possession of the documents (and allegedly undertook efforts to conceal them in different places throughout the property) up until the FBI finally executed a search warrant earlier this month.
With that framework having been established, Moss continues:
That is the ball game, folks. Absent some unforeseen change in factual or legal circumstances, I believe there is little left for the Justice Department to do but decide whether to wait until after the midterms to formally seek the indictment from the grand jury.
Trump doesn’t even have any sort of plausible defense, Moss notes:
All in all, this case should and in my opinion will result in an indictment. Sure, an indictment does not equal a conviction. Trump is still assumed innocent until proven guilty. There are unknown variables like whether the prosecution would occur in Florida or in D.C. We do not know what evidence Trump might have to substantiate his declassification claim. And we do not know what the courts would say about his various arguments. Get the popcorn ready either way.
Tristan Snell, who prosecuted the ex-president for his Trump University scam, agreed with Moss:
“The DOJ’s Trump affidavit was basically an early draft of what will become the DOJ’s Trump indictment.”
Time for Donald Trump to finally pay the price for his lifetime of crime.
