A report from the Washington Post suggesting that disgraced former president Donald Trump left classified documents in plain view at his Mar-a-Lago resort and may also have shared them with others is the worst possible news and means his legal liability has gone from “bad to worse” according to attorney Norm Eisen.
In a column he wrote for MSNBC, Eisen notes there’s more than enough evidence to indict Trump for obstruction of justice, but the Post report means the stakes are even higher now.
If Trump had really showed off classified documents to people at Mar-a-Lago, then that would add to what we already know of his legal liability,” Eisen writes. “Just by retaining the documents, Trump would face liability for apparent willful possession and retention of the classified documents pertaining to national defense. Under section 793(e) of the Espionage Act, it is a criminal offense for a person without authorization to willfully retain classified documents and fail to deliver them to an officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive them.
And that’s where things get even stickier for the ex-president, Eisen explains.
… purposefully showing classified documents to others without authorization, in the manner reported by the Post and the Times, would go beyond retaining classified documents as prohibited by the statute. It likely constitutes an even more egregious violation of the Espionage Act under the clause prohibiting the willful communication, delivery or transmission of classified documents.
The bottom line is that the Justice Department’s case against the scofflaw former head of state “is becoming clearer and potentially more damning — and the possible consequences for Trump more dire.”
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith is expected to announce indictments against Trump as soon as next week, according to some reports.
