Lifeline at the White House
Trump is walking in legal quicksand
By Roland Peters
06/14/2023, 8:36 p.m
Donald Trump’s legal problems are becoming more numerous, the ex-US President is now also accused under the anti-espionage law. He could still move back into the White House. Further charges are pending.
For the first time, an ex-US President has been indicted in a federal court – and who should it be but Donald Trump? After his court hearing with his lawyer on Tuesday, he pulled up in a column in high spirits to a well-known Cuban-American cafe in Miami. Trump prayed with those present against communism, they thanked them with “Happy Birthday” chants – a day too early, but what does that matter. The Cuban exiles in the US state of Florida had voted for Trump in 2020, thereby securing him the local electoral votes.
The now 77-year-old has to answer in Miami because he stored secret documents from his tenure in his Mar-a-Lago residence there – including boxes by the box in the bathroom – and generally used a rather lax approach to the papers and their contents. The ex-president is also accused of conspiring with an assistant to keep the classified documents from the National Archives and hiding the crime from the FBI. Until the raid came.
The charges include 37 violations of the anti-espionage law, allegations of false testimony and obstruction of investigations. Trump has pleaded not guilty. And now? The legal procedure could even be delayed until a court case in the year after next. Then the presidential election would have been over and Trump might already be in the White House. But it could also happen much earlier. However it may come about, the indictment is more dangerous for a political career than ever before.
Previous trials ended with: prison
Next up is Assistant Walt Nauta’s statement on June 27th. It’s unclear if the two will defend themselves in court together. Trump reportedly hired Nauta to hide the boxes of classified documents from the ex-president’s attorney and FBI investigators. Video recordings show the 40-year-old man removing the boxes from a storage room shortly before the raid in Mar-a-Lago. In addition, Nauta is said to have lied to the FBI. The secret documents that have been withheld describe, for example, the nuclear capabilities of other countries. Hiding them and thus obstructing justice could both be sentenced to life in prison. Whether Trump would actually go behind bars cannot be answered. A possible lifeline is attached to the White House: US Presidents can pardon convicts by decree.
Several government employees have already been sentenced under the anti-espionage law in sensational trials for possessing secret documents, such as Chelsea Manning to 35 years in prison, or Reality Winner to more than 5 years. Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has also been accused of the same thing. Most recently, a secret service agent who had kept hundreds of documents at home was convicted. He pleaded guilty, showed remorse, but got still three years imprisonment.
Jack Smith, the Justice Department’s special counsel on the case.
(Photo: AP)
Trump hid around 100 top-secret documents instead of returning them as required. The anti-espionage law is one of the few that provides that a convicted person may no longer hold public office. Legal scholars disagree on whether this would be the case with Trump, there is no precedent of a president-elect. The trend is that the voters, and thus Congress, carry more weight than criminal law. That means: If the Americans want a convicted criminal for president, they should have him.
However, it is a long way to such a point. Trump will start the trial in the courtroom with various motions as long as possible want to delay, the investigators say they achieve the opposite. If the trial begins in a year, which is not uncommon for other trials, Trump may well have the Republican nomination for the presidential election all but certain. After the indictment broke, his poll numbers among Republicans went up. He is the undisputed leader in the field of applicants. The primary elections begin in February, and the election will take place on November 5, 2024.
Trump appointed his judge
The responsible judge will also play an important role, at least when it comes to the time factor. So far, Aileen Cannon has been responsible – she was appointed federal judge by Trump three years ago. Cannon is a member of the conservative federalist society. She had forbidden the investigators from the FBI and the prosecutor’s office to see the documents confiscated from Trump, following a request from his lawyers. A higher authority reversed the decision. It is by no means said that Cannon is also leading the process. The US judicial system uses random selection of judges. Because of the large number of conservative federal judges in Florida, it is likely that her possible successor will also be a judge appointed by Trump, writes “Politico”.
When special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment became known last week, two of Trump’s lawyers resigned. Another lawyer had already left the team a month earlier. The ex-president was accompanied on his subpoena by Todd Blanche, who is also representing him in the case of the hush money payments to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels in a New York court. Trump’s first step after his court date is to reassemble his defense team. Over the coming months, prosecutors will continue to present their evidence to the newly formed defense, which they will then use to develop their strategy.
Whatever that looks like: Trump is kicking around in the quicksand. He still has other charges and trials ahead of him, for example for alleged aiding and abetting the January 6, 2021 uprising, when Trump supporters tried to prevent the counting of electoral votes in Congress. Exploiting such problems politically is one of Trump’s great talents. But while his base loves him for it, he has also driven more people to the polls than ever before, who voted him out in 2020. It is unlikely that the Cuban exiles will be able to protect him from this. If you polarize, you can also lose.