Latest indictment against Trump trumps first in terms of legal seriousness and political risk
Posted Date – 12:45 AM, Sat – 6/10/23
Latest indictment against Trump trumps first in terms of legal seriousness and political risk
The spectacle of infamy continues for Donald Trump as he becomes the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted in a federal criminal case for mishandling classified documents. The maverick Republican leader, who is running for president again, could be behind bars if a federal grand jury finds him guilty on any of the seven counts because of the serious nature of the case involving state secrets. He was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime in another March case involving hush money paid to a porn star with whom he had sex on election eve. The latest indictment eclipses the first in terms of legal seriousness and political risk. The charge against him is that he hid troves of classified documents after leaving office and then tried to thwart government efforts to recover them. The FBI seized about 11,000 documents after issuing a search warrant against Trump, who now faces charges of knowingly keeping national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Since Trump left office in January 2021, more than 300 classified-marked documents — including some top secret — have been recovered from Trump. He is likely to be indicted in two other cases — for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and for his role in inciting an attack on the Capitol in 2021, when a group of his supporters stormed a Building, trying to block the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
In the United States, an indictment is a formal notice that there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. It’s not a conviction, but one of the first actions prosecutors can take to bring a case to trial. Now, the biggest challenge facing prosecutors is whether they can prove that Trump knowingly broke the law. In May 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice charged FBI intelligence analyst Kendra Kingsbury under the Counterespionage Act with illegally transferring classified documents and bringing them home. The analyst pleaded guilty last year and faces up to 10 years in prison. It’s the same charge Trump is now facing. As always, Trump went on the offensive despite a flurry of cases. Even before indicting, he stepped up efforts to delegitimize the investigation, arguing he had been unfairly prosecuted. His core base has stood by him so far, including those opposed to his Republican nomination next year. With Trump prepared to play the victim card, it will be a challenge for US authorities to ensure that the legal process proceeds peacefully.
