WERE THE DOCUMENTS SHARED WITH OTHERS?
During a July 2021 interview with a writer at his Bedminster Club in New Jersey, Trump allegedly described a “plan of attack” against another country that a military official had drawn up. Trump said the information “is like, highly confidential” and that he could have declassified it as president, but no longer could. The exchange was recorded, the indictment says.
In a meeting later that year at Bedminster, Trump allegedly showed a representative of his political action committee a classified map of another country in discussing an ongoing military operation there.
After receiving a grand jury subpoena in May 2022 requiring him to produce all documents with classified markings in his possession, Trump allegedly directed his aide Walt Nauta to remove 64 boxes of documents from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to Trump’s residence.
Before Trump’s lawyer arrived at the club to conduct a search of the storage room in response to the subpoena on Jun 2, Nauta spoke with Trump on the phone and then moved 30 of those boxes from Trump’s residence to the storage room, according to the indictment.
HOW DID A SPECIAL COUNSEL GET INVOLVED?
Last year, US Attorney General Merrick Garland picked Jack Smith, a veteran war crimes prosecutor with a background in public corruption probes, to lead investigations into the presence of classified documents at Trump’s Florida estate, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
Smith’s appointment was a recognition by Garland of the politics involved in an investigation into a former president and current White House candidate. Garland himself was selected by Democratic President Joe Biden, whom Trump is seeking to challenge for the White House in 2024.
Special counsels are appointed in cases in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government come in and take responsibility for a matter.
According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a special counsel must have “a reputation for integrity and impartial decisionmaking,” as well as “an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies”.
DIDN’T BIDEN AND FORMER VP MIKE PENCE HAVE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, TOO?
Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from the situation involving Trump.
After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorised other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.
There is no indication that either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries. That’s important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office. But even if the Justice Department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.
As for Pence, the Justice Department informed his legal team earlier this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Jim Trusty, Trump’s lawyer, said the logistics of the former president’s appearance in court were being worked out with the US Marshals Service and the Secret Service to “make this as smooth as possible”.
“He’s going to show up,” Trusty said. “He knows he’s innocent. He knows this is garbage.”
Trump is likely to enter a plea of not guilty at Tuesday’s hearing before a federal judge.
The judge would then come up with a schedule for pretrial hearings and the process known as discovery, in which prosecutors turn over evidence to the defence.
The discovery process could be particularly complicated in the case, legal analysts said, because it involves documents which allegedly involve some of the country’s most tightly held secrets.
An actual trial is not expected to begin for several months and there is nothing to prevent Trump from pursuing a second term in the White House while under indictment.
Source: CNA
