 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
An ex-FBI lawyer said Friday that former President Donald Trump will be “prosecuted” over his handling of classified documents following the unsealing of search affidavit used by the FBI to enter Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Andrew
Weissmann, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor was speaking after
Judge Bruce Reinhart unsealed a heavily redacted version of the affidavit which
revealed how “top secret” and other classified documents were removed from the
former president’s Palm Beach estate.
Will Trump be indicted over handling of classified records?
"When I
read this today, my big overarching takeaway is, and I know this is just a
prediction and speculation, but I say it's an educated one is that the former
president is going to be prosecuted. I don't see how you cannot give in this
information," he said during an interview on MSNBC's Deadline: White House,
Newsweek reports.
Weissmann
compared Trump’s ordeal to that of former CIA director and retired Army General
David Petraeus who pleaded guilty in 2015 to a charge of mishandling classified
materials. Petraeus was subsequently sentenced to two years of probation and
fined $100,000, according to Newsweek.
"When
you compare it to precedent, we compare it to General Petraeus...what we are
seeing is so much worse both in terms of the volume, the length of time, and
then the sort of repeated obstruction and false statements that were
made," said Weissmann, who served as a lead prosecutor in the Mueller
investigation, according to Newsweek.
The former FBI
General Counsel said: "I don't see if you're somebody like Merrick
Garland, who is a former judge who thinks about precedent, about treating...
defendants equally. I don't see how you avoid that conclusion in this
case."
Trump dismissed the FBI search on his home as a politically motivated “witch-hunt”. He said the fully cooperated with agency and at some point called the recovered documents a “scam” and a “hoax”.
A former
Trump attorney Alan Derschowitz echoed Weissmann’s remarks when she spoke with
Newsweek. She said the Department of Justice has enough evidence to indict Mr.
Trump.
"It
sounds like there would be enough for an indictment, but like probable cause,
an indictment is easy to get," Dershowitz told Newsweek, adding that
prosecutors could simply point to the materials found at Trump's residence that
he unlawfully kept.
What does FBI affidavit say about classified records removed from Trump's Mar-a-Lago?
An FBI
affidavit released Friday reveals that 15 boxes which contained top secret
classified documents recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida
Mar-a-Lago home were mixed with newspapers, magazines and personal
correspondences.
The court
papers said no space or part of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was authorized for
the storage of classified records.
The court
papers detailed the reasons for the FBI search at the former president’s Palm
Beach estate, including “probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction
will be found,” The Associated Press reports.
The 32-page
affidavit provides detailed information of the government records being stored
at Mar-a-Lago long after Trump left the White House and also reveals the
gravity of the government concerns that the classified documents were being
kept without authorization. The heavily redacted document protects the safety
of witnesses and law enforcement officials and “the integrity of the ongoing
investigation,” according to The Associated Press.
The records
also exposes Trump’s refusal to handover the materials despite months of
entreaties from U.S. officials and his illegal retention of top secret
documents.
The
affidavit revealed 25 of the 184 documents with classification markings were at
the top secret level. Some of the documents had special markings which suggest
they included information from highly sensitive human sources or the collection
of electronic “signals” authorized by a special intelligence court, The
Associated Press reported.
The
affidavit also revealed some of the classified records were mixed with other
documents, including newspapers, magazines and miscellaneous print-outs.