The discovery of top-secret documents in his estate in the US state of Florida puts former US President Donald Trump in a difficult position to explain. The question is whether the 76-year-old endangered the security of the country by hoarding the secret documents. He may have broken several laws, including the US Espionage Act.
More explosive details about the search came to light over the weekend. The “New York Times” reported that Trump’s team is said to have provided incomplete information about the whereabouts of secret documents in Trump’s possession. Meanwhile, the ex-president continued to rail against the investigators.
According to the FBI list, the agents last Monday in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate found, among other things, a set of “Top Secret/SCI” documents, which are top secret and may only be viewed in special government facilities. Four of the confiscated sets of documents were classified as “Top Secret”, three more as “Secret”, and the remaining three as “Confidential”. The search warrant lists three criminal offenses as possible basis for any seizure – including collecting, transmitting or losing defense information. He falls under US espionage law.
What did Trump want with the documents?
It is completely open what Trump wanted with the documents. At least one attorney for the Republican is also said to have signed a statement in June that the material marked as secret had been returned in its entirety to the government, the New York Times and CNN reported, citing unnamed people. The document is said to have gone to the Ministry of Justice. The Washington Post reported that the FBI was also looking for classified documents about nuclear weapons. Trump denied this and described the report as a “hoax”.
The lawyer’s letter could explain why the search warrant also mentions obstruction of justice as a possible basis for possible seizures. Trump, meanwhile, argues that he declassified the documents in question and was therefore able to take them with him. However, it is questionable whether this defense strategy will be successful. Incumbent presidents do have far-reaching powers to release information and lift secrecy. But for the release of documents there is a formal procedure with several highly official steps – a simple verbal instruction is not enough.
It is unclear whether the documents have gone through the legally required approval process. In addition, it does not necessarily matter whether the documents were released. Even keeping documents without authorization can be a crime in the context of national defense if it jeopardizes the security of the country. Experts point out that certain documents, for example on nuclear weapons, cannot simply be released.
Tirades against the judiciary and the FBI
Trump continued to rail against the judiciary and the FBI on the Truth Social network, which he co-founded. He accused the authority of being corrupt. He again called the search a “political staging” shortly before the congressional elections in the fall. He complained that investigators had also searched his wife Melania’s closets and clothes.
Trump himself made the search public. Attorney General Merrick Garland had stressed that the presumption of innocence applies. At the same time, he had underlined that a federal court had approved the search “after the necessary determination of sufficient suspicion”.
Last year, National Archives officials discovered that Trump had taken a slew of documents and other government materials when he left the White House at the end of his term in January 2021. According to the law, this material should have been given to the National Archives. Trump finally handed over several documents to the agency earlier this year. After that, there should have been another exchange between investigators and Trump’s lawyers. However, the officials had suspected that Trump or his team were still withholding important documents, according to US media.
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