The truth behind the search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago
On 8 August, former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was searched by the FBI after the US Department of Justice suspected Trump of breaking the Espionage Act.
By: Derry Salter.
Credit: Steve Helber.
The
search warrant details how the FBI gathered evidence on 8 August to investigate
whether Trump took government records from the White House to his home whilst
in power; this improper handling is a serious offence with all US Presidents having
to abide by the law of transferring all documents and emails to the National
Archives.
Earlier
this year, the National Archives claimed they retrieved 15 boxes of documents
from Mar-a-Lago, which the former President should have handed over. These
documents included classified information, which saw the National Archives take
action and call for the justice department to undertake an investigation.
The
search a fortnight ago recovered twenty boxes of material and the FBI took 11
sets of classified files. Four were ‘top secret’, three were ‘secret documents’
and a further three were marked ‘confidential.’ The boxes also included files
titled ‘TS/SCI’, referring to documents containing the country’s most important
secrets, which, if revealed to the public, could cause ‘exceptionally grave’
damage to US national security. However, there is little information on what any
of these documents actually contain. One inside scoop into the documents revealed
a handwritten note and unspecified information about the President of France.
The
siege on Trump’s estate has seen the former President rain hellfire onto the
FBI, repeatedly denying any wrong doing. Trump claims all documents found were ‘all
declassified’ and kept in ‘secure storage.’ He continues to argue that the justice
department had not previously requested these documents and, if they had, he
would have willingly handed them over. The business tycoon however cannot get a
solid explanation into why the documents were at Mar-a-Lago with various claims
ranging from the evidence being planted to even shifting the blame to former
President Obama.
A
current investigation is looking whether the documents were actually declassified;
in the case of declassification, all official documents must be marked as ‘declassified
on x date.’ It is currently unclear whether Trump followed this process.
However, even if the documents were declassified, in a legal sense the former
President can still be charged as the Espionage Act doesn’t differentiate
between classified and declassified documents. The three potential crimes are
as follows:
-
Wilful retention of national defence information
-
Obstruction of a federal investigation
-
Concealment and/or removal of government records
For
violating the Espionage Act, Trump could face a maximum of 10 years in prison
alongside a penalty of 20 years for the obstruction of a federal investigation.
The concealment and/or removal of records will prove most worrying to Trump as
this conviction will bar him from holding future office.
Judge Bruce Reinhart is currently deciding whether to unseal the highly sensitive document that will shed light on how the Mar-a-Lago search was justified after news organisations petitioned for the release of the document in the name of public interest. The justice department continues to oppose this, arguing that this would jeopardise the investigation. The federal judge concluded that he is currently ‘inclined’ to unseal some of the document. The justice department is currently redacting the document so it doesn’t undermine their investigation; the deadline is on 25 August, with hopes that some dramatic news details will be publicly released in only three days.
The 45th President hinted that he may undertake legal action against the FBI and stated that a ‘major motion’ relating to the Constitution’s Fourth Amen dement will be filed soon. Under the Fourth Amendment, US citizens are protected against all unreasonable searches and seizures. Speaking out on his website, Truth Social, Trump stated that his rights ‘have been violated at a level rarely seen before in our country.’ Despite being signed off by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Trump continues to denounce the search as unlawful and a mere political attack against a likely challenger in the 2024 election.
In
the meantime, Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing. However, he
remains stewing at Mar-a-Lago as the investigation, or, as Trump denotes it, ‘The
greatest Witch Hunt in USA history’, continues.