Tuesday, former President Donald Trump’s counsel entered a “not guilty” plea in federal court. The federal judge granted Trump pre-trial release with no restrictions other than a prohibition on witness contact.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed 37 charges against Trump relating to his management of classified documents. Trump, President Joe Biden’s chief opponent in next year’s presidential election, could face decades in prison if proven guilty on all charges.
At least twice, according to the indictment, Trump is alleged to have shown classified documents to individuals who lacked the necessary security clearances. The DOJ claims that both incidents occurred at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
CNN received information regarding one of the alleged instances.
CNN reported on June 2 that federal prosecutors “obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump admits he kept a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran,” contradicting his claim that he declassified everything.
Trump announced last Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice had indicted him on charges related to his handling of classified materials.
The charges “include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, a scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations,” ABC News reported.
“Maximum sentences for the respective charges, per their statutes, range from five up to 20 years, although any eventual sentence should Trump be convicted would likely be much lower,” the outlet added.
During a Monday interview, one of Trump’s attorneys criticized Joe Biden’s Justice Department and stated that her client was “absolutely” permitted to possess the classified materials for which he has been indicted.
Christina Bobb told Newsmax that Trump’s authorization stems from the Presidential Records Act, before criticizing the way he’s been treated by the DOJ and FBI compared to President Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence, who both had classified materials in their possession but are not covered by the same act as vice presidents.
“Donald Trump was 100% authorized to keep everything he kept. And it was actually the Department of Justice that actually had to return materials because they took things they were not allowed to possess and had to return them,” Bobb noted further.
“President Trump had every right to have possession of those documents. And the only statute that applies to Donald Trump on this is the Presidential Records Act 44 U.S.C. Section 2203 Alpha, which specifically says the president and only the president is the one who has authority to make this call,” she told Newsmax.
“I think their case is dead on arrival,” she predicted.
After perusing the 49-page indictment, Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general in the Trump administration, stated that there is something on page three that concerns the prosecution.
Clark stated on Twitter that the media disclosure constitutes grounds for dismissing the case.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
“I’m beginning to read the indictment against Trump,” he wrote. “But even three pages in, it’s clear that the leaks that preceded the indictment are far too close to what is actually being pleaded by DOJ to be a coincidence.” CONTINUE READING…
