A Federal Judge has Released the Warrant which Provides Statutes at Issues and a Description of Documents Seized at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home
What is the legal traction of the Department of Justice based on the statutes?
The Department of Justice is looking into three federal crimes as part of its ongoing investigation into Donald Trump. The crimes detailed are:
Violations of the Espionage Act [18 U.S.C. Section 793]
Obstruction of Justice [20 years Max upon conviction - Section 1519]
Criminal Handling of Government Records [Section 1924]
The last two listed are certainly the most serious and carry the most extensive penalties. In any event, so far there has only been probable cause motivating the Department of Justice which satisfied the federal judge to issue the warrant. More times than not, this is a far lower standard when going about receiving a warrant and was not determined during an adversarial proceeding.
No real opportunity — besides previous to the event — has Trump had a chance to defend himself. He has the opportunity to raise his defenses such as the questioning of the search warrant itself and he will also be able to attempt to invalidate the search and whatever was secured pursuant to it. Many say Donald Trump may also be able to claim the documents were declassified.
However, in consensus with many people’s understanding, there was a prior removal of items that was followed by additional discussions about possible remaining items. The Trump team lied to investigators about what documents were still at the Mar-a-Lago home. This lie is apparently verified by witnesses. As a consequence, a subpoena was issued SEVERAL months ago which they [the Trump team] also didn’t honor. There was ample time and access to investigators to challenge the legality of keeping certain documents or to comply with the subpoena. At the end of the day, Donald Trump failed to do so.
In light of the fact that Donald Trump has a legitimate legal defense here, the feds have treated him like a child and given him opportunity after opportunity to return the documents. However, he and his team lied and refused to comply. At this point, you throw the book at them and bury them under the castle. Anything less is setting the kind of precedent that undoes democracy and nations.
The copy of the search warrant is HERE