Trump may have violated Espionage Act
Published on: Sunday, August 14, 2022
By: AFP
Pedestrians walk by Trump Tower in Manhattan.
WASHINGTON: FBI agents seized records marked “top secret” during their search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida estate, according to documents made public Friday in a probe that includes possible violations of the US Espionage Act.The search warrant and related materials, unsealed by a Florida judge, showed agents carted away a significant number of items from the raid, which ignited a political firestorm in an already bitterly divided country.ADVERTISEMENT
The warrant, which was personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland, authorized the FBI to search the “45 office”—a reference to the 45th US president’s private office at his Mar-a-Lago residence—and storage rooms.
It directed them to seize documents and records “illegally possessed” in violation of three criminal statutes, including one falling under the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to illegally obtain or retain national security information.
Trump, who is weighing another White House run in 2024, vehemently denounced the FBI raid on his Florida home and claimed that all of the material confiscated during the search had been previously “declassified.”
“They didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything,” he said in a statement on his Truth Social platform. “They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago.”ADVERTISEMENT
Legal experts cautioned that while the warrant cites the Espionage Act, any potential charges remain unclear and Trump is not necessarily suspected of espionage.
“The Espionage Act encompasses a ton of crimes that have nothing to do with ‘spying,’” Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer, said on Twitter. “It’s about unlawful storing of information relating to the national defense.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Orin Kerr, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, agreed, saying the “Espionage Act is a pretty broad law about mishandling classified documents, not just espionage.”
Among the records seized during the raid were documents marked “Top Secret,” “Secret” and “Confidential.”
Some of the papers were marked “SCI”—sensitive compartmented information meaning they were meant to be viewed only in secure government facilities.
FBI agents also seized binders of photos, a handwritten note, information about the “President of France,” and the grant of clemency made by Trump to Roger Stone, an ally of the former president, according to the list.
The Justice Department had asked a federal judge to unseal the search warrant on Friday barring objections from Trump.
The 76-year-old Trump did not block the release, but complained that he was the victim of “unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement” by “radical left Democrats.”
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.