Trump Suspected of Violating Espionage Act

What's the story?

• The property receipt of items recovered by FBI agents searching Mar-a-Lago resort reveals former President Donald Trump is being investigated in connection with statutes related to the Espionage Act and obstruction.
• Agents removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some that were labeled top secret. The president is being investigated for breaking three federal laws: removal or destruction of records, obstructing an investigation, and violating the Espionage Act.
• The full warrant and property receipt can be found here.

“The locations to be searched include the ‘45 Office,’ all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate,” the warrant says, using the acronym “FPOTUS” to refer to the former President of the United States. 

• Here's a list of what was taken from Mar-a-Lago:

• The Department of Justice is investigating if Trump broke laws against gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information; the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records; and the concealment, removal, or mutilation of records.
• The DOJ wrote in a court filing that the former president and his legal team do not object to making the search warrant public.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that "agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn’t provide any more details about the substance of the documents."
• In January 2018, then-President Trump signed a law making it a felony to take and retain classified documents. Trump could face five years in prison if he's found guilty under his changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
• The Department of Justice said supports releasing four documents: the search warrant, two attachments describing to some extent what is being searched and why, and a receipt handed to Trump’s legal team documenting what was seized at the property.
• Trump had said in a statement on his social media platform that he didn't oppose their public disclosure:

"Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years. Release the documents now!"

Read the motion requesting the unsealing of the documents here.

What are the classification levels?

• Top secret/SCI documents — the highest level of classification
• Top secret documents - mid-level classification
• Confidential documents — the lowest level of classification
• Compartmented - "Classified information concerning or derived from intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes, which is required to be handled within formal access control systems established by the Director of National Intelligence."

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

-Josh Herman

(Photo: Mar-a-Lago / formulanone)