Trump could face criminal charges vis-a-vis classified documents, admit lawyers

Washington : Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has acknowledged that he could face criminal charges vis-a-vis the “classified documents” seized by the FBI during the August 8 search of the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
The FBI seized 11 boxes of documents in the raid and the Department of Justice claimed many of them were classified documents that could come under the purview of the Espionage Act.
Trump denied any wrong-doing saying he had declassified all documents that he took home but legal experts had questioned the validity of such a claim including his own White House staff saying there was no such communication and that the authority to declassify any secret document lay with the intelligence authorities.
In a filing late Monday evening, Trump’s team told the special master that it is hesitant to provide specifics on what may have been declassified because the issue may become a defence against future criminal charges, media reports said.
If they were forced to disclose this specific declassification evidence, “the Special Master process will have forced the plaintiff to fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment without such a requirement being evident in the District Court’s order”.
The Justice Department has made it clear that the Mar-a-Lago saga is a serious criminal investigation, and Trump’s team seems to be seriously contemplating the possibility of the former President’s possible indictment. It is not yet known if the Justice Department will pursue criminal charges against Trump, although former Attorney General William Barr has said the evidence seems to be trending in that direction.