Based on recent reporting that failed former president Donald Trump may have shown classified documents people who visited him at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Special Counsel Jack Smith will be charging the ex-president with espionage as well as obstruction of justice, a state attorney said Wednesday.
On April 2, The Washington Post reported that Trump may have shared classified information with others.
As investigators piece together what happened in May and June of last year, they have been asking witnesses if Trump showed classified documents, including maps, to political donors, people familiar with those conversations said.
That, according to Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, would constitute a direct violation of the Espionage Statute found in federal law.
During an appearance on “Deadline: White House” Wednesday, Aronberg noted:
“I think the reason that they asked about the map is another statute, 18 USC 719 (e), ‘The Espionage Statute,’ says that someone who is unauthorized to have possession of a map and then shows it to someone who can’t see it violates that statute,” Aronberg explained. “So, they’re not just going after him for obstruction, but also espionage, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison. That’s why there’s a lot of trouble ahead. That’s why Bill Barr is saying, hey, this is the tough one. It’s not New York that will do in the former president in. I think it’s the Mar-a-Lago documents because there’s a direct tie between the former president and the alleged criminality there.”
Keep in mind that’s ten years for each count of violating the Espionage Statute. And Trump could be charged for every single time he took the documents out and showed them to others who didn’t have a valid security clearance. Two people would be 20 years. If he showed them to 10 people, he’d be facing a century in federal prison.
Things are about to get much worse for Donald Trump. The only question that remains is when Smith will hand down the indictments against the former president and exactly what crimes the former president will be charged with.
