Trump’s Attorneys Admit He Violated The Espionage Act In Amateurish Court Filing

A court filing from attorneys representing disgraced, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump includes an admission that he did indeed violate the Espionage Act, which should make prosecuting him that much easier.

Legal analyst Marcy Wheeler, of EmptyWheel, caught the amateurish language used in the filing.

Specifically, the filing states that Trump was subpoenaed on May 11, 2022, and “On June 2, 2022, President Trump, through counsel, invited the FBI to come to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve responsive documents.”

Approximately a month later, Trump extended an invitation for the FBI to return and verify what he had in his possession. That raises the question of why still had documents after June 2. That led to the search warrant being issued because the ex-president was still in violation of the law.

The court filing also has a direct admission from Trump that he did indeed take classified government documents, which is expressly forbidden and illegal under both the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act.

Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe also examined the court filing and dubbed it “very strange,” noting:

“It doesn’t really give any good reasons for thinking this warrant was illegal. In fact, one of the amazing things that I agree with is a statement on page 13 that President Trump, he still calls himself President Trump, should not be treated differently from any other citizen. Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago, which has been penetrated by Chinese spies and perhaps by others, would be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. So, he is sort of asking Merrick Garland to prosecute him. Thank you, Mr. Trump, I won’t call him President Trump.”

Reportedly, Trump doesn’t like to pay his attorneys for the work they do on his behalf. Based on this latest court filing, it appears he’s getting what he paid for.