“The details are pretty shocking in terms of the carelessness with which these documents were handled, and the concerted effort to keep them out of the hands of the FBI,” said a national security law expert at the Brennan Center for Justice.
- Donald Trump faces a formidable task defending against charges that he illegally kept top-secret documents upon leaving the White House in 2021, according to legal experts, who said neither the law nor the facts appear to be on his side.
“The details are pretty shocking in terms of the carelessness with which these documents were handled, and the concerted effort to keep them out of the hands of the FBI,” said Elizabeth Goitein, a national security law expert at the Brennan Center for Justice. Trump's greatest peril could lie in the conspiracy to obstruct justice charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Obstruction of justice is a particularly difficult charge to defend against, attorney Mark MacDougall said. “It offends people. Hiding things from a lawful legal process. Most people understand why that’s a crime," he said.Legal experts said Trump's alleged years-long effort to conceal documents was likely a major factor in special counsel Jack Smith's decision to indict him.
Cato's Neily said that based on his reading of the indictment, prosecutors likely have many witnesses who have given them similar accounts of Trump's efforts. National defense information does not need to be classified to be covered by that law, national security law experts said. The information need only be useful to the nation’s adversaries and be closely held by the government.
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