'Look what I found': Here's how Donald Trump has put himself in trouble AGAIN

Why You're Reading This: Former President of the United States (US) Donald Trump made his way to Florida on Monday in anticipation of a groundbreaking federal court hearing where he faces numerous felony charges. The accusations against him involve unlawfully stockpiling classified documents and obstructing the Justice Department's attempts to retrieve them. Trump is the first former US president in history to face criminal charges.

3 Things You Need To Know: 

• Donald Trump is set to appear in court for the second time in months, this time in Miami.
• Out of the 37 charges, the former US president faces 31 counts of willful retention of national defence information under the Espionage Act.
• Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump, was charged as a co-conspirator with six felony counts.

HOT TAKE:

On Tuesday afternoon (local time) in Miami, Donald Trump will make his second appearance before a judge on criminal charges, following an earlier hearing in April. However, unlike the New York case that, according to AP, was criticised by some legal analysts as relatively unimportant, the current prosecution by the Justice Department involves allegations of behaviour that, according to prosecutors, endangered national security. The charges brought against him under the Espionage Act carry the possibility of a substantial prison term.

BIG DATA: The Federal Indictment against Trump

In the recently unsealed federal indictment against former President Donald Trump, he is confronted with 37 counts connected to sensitive documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida following his departure from the White House.

The indictment alleges the former US president "endeavoured to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal retention of classified documents." Trump's aide and US Navy veteran Walt Nauta has also been named as a co-conspirator.

The indictment contains photographs depicting boxes arranged on a ballroom stage and within a bathroom at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. It further asserts that the boxes held classified documents, which encompassed details concerning defence and weapons capabilities, including US nuclear programs.

651864905-US-v-Trump-Nauta-23-80101 by Anmol Singla on Scribd

Trump maintains his innocence and strongly condemns the criminal case, which represents the second indictment against him within a few months. The first one was unsealed at the Manhattan District Court in New York City in April this year.

Where will the case be heard & who will preside?

Although Trump's initial court appearance on Tuesday is projected to occur before a magistrate judge in Miami. The assigned judge for the case is Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump and has previously issued rulings that were favourable to him. Judge Cannon has also displayed consistent scepticism towards positions taken by the Justice Department in the past.

Last year, Judge Aileen Cannon faced widespread criticism for granting the request made by Trump's legal team to appoint a special master to independently review the numerous classified documents that were confiscated from his Florida property. This decision temporarily halted certain crucial aspects of the Justice Department's investigative efforts. However, several months later, a three-judge panel from a federal appeals court overturned the ruling.

Every charge coincides with a classified doc

Trump is confronted with a total of 31 counts under the Espionage Act for willfully retaining national defence information. Additionally, he faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, and making false statements.

Each of the willful retention counts is specifically associated with a classified document discovered at Mar-a-Lago, which was marked as either "SECRET" or "TOP SECRET." These documents cover various topics such as US nuclear weapons, the nuclear capabilities of a foreign country, and the military activities or capabilities of other nations.

The conspiracy charges revolve around the accusations that Trump engaged in actions to conceal documents from his attorney and federal investigators. The false statement charges arise from Trump's alleged involvement in instructing his lawyer to inform the FBI that there were no additional classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. However, during a search conducted by the FBI in August 2022, over 100 documents were subsequently discovered, contradicting the earlier statement.

The most severe charges entail potential prison terms of up to 20 years each. However, judges possess discretion, and in cases involving first-time offenders, sentences rarely reach the maximum duration.

How does Walt Nauta fit into this?

The indictment charges Trump and Nauta with conspiring to conceal the secret documents from the grand jury. The grand jury had issued a subpoena in May 2022, requesting Trump to surrender the documents, which prosecutors alleged that he conspired with Nauta to withhold.

As part of the conspiracy allegation, the indictment asserts that Trump suggested his lawyer provide false information to investigators, specifically denying the existence of any additional classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The conspiracy also involved actions such as relocating boxes to conceal the secret documents from Trump's lawyer and proposing that the lawyer hide or destroy the documents that investigators were seeking. These allegations form part of the charges outlined in the indictment.

According to the indictment, Nauta, at Trump's instruction, transferred around 64 boxes of documents from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to the former president's residence in May 2022. Subsequently, on June 2, Nauta returned approximately 30 boxes to the storage room. Remarkably, this coincided with the day when Trump's legal team arrived to inspect the boxes and identify any classified documents to be returned to the government, as stated in the indictment.

According to the indictment, Nauta had a brief phone conversation with Trump before returning the boxes to the storage room. However, neither Trump nor Nauta informed the former president's lawyers about Nauta's actions of moving the contents of the storage room.

Did Trump share any classified documents?

According to the indictment, Trump is accused of exhibiting classified documents to individuals who lacked the necessary security clearances on two separate occasions.

As outlined in the court documents, a meeting took place in July 2021 between Trump and a writer and publisher regarding an upcoming book. During the meeting, Trump allegedly exclaimed, "Look what I found," and proceeded to display what he referred to as a "plan of attack" belonging to a senior military official. This account is supported by an audio recording of the conversation, which was obtained by investigators.

According to the indictment, Trump acknowledged during the meeting that the document in question was of a "highly confidential" nature and contained "secret information". Additionally, he stated that he could have declassified the document if he were still serving as president.

“Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” he said, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, a few months later, Trump allegedly exhibited a classified map of a foreign country to a representative of his political action committee. During their discussion, Trump acknowledged that he should not be showing the map to the individual and cautioned them not to get too close to it. Prosecutors assert these allegations in their case.

What evidence do prosecutors have?

Prosecutors relied on various forms of evidence to build their case. Alongside the audio recording, they also utilised text messages exchanged between Trump employees, photographs of boxes of documents stored in different areas within Mar-a-Lago, and information regarding conversations between Trump and his lawyers that were recorded or documented by one of the lawyers. These pieces of evidence were instrumental in supporting the allegations made in the indictment.

In one conversation with his lawyers, Trump said: “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes.” Trump also asked one of his lawyers if it would be better “if we just told them we don’t have anything here,” the indictment says.

The indictment includes photographs that depict boxes arranged on a stage within a ballroom, as well as boxes stored in a bathroom. Another photograph reveals boxes overflowing in a storage room, with one particular document marked as "SECRET/REL TO USA, FVEY." This classification indicates that the information is only releasable to members of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance, comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These photographs provide visual evidence of the storage and handling of the documents described in the indictment.

BOTTOMLINE:

With the next United States Presidential elections around the corner, Trump and his allies have to make sure that these accusations against the former President, especially those under the Espionage Act, do not hinder the real estate mogul's chances of getting back in the White House. 

Furthermore, being a former president would likely be a significant factor taken into account during the sentencing process, as Donald Trump makes history as the first US president to face criminal charges.