Retention of classified documents, obstruction of justice, false testimony: Donald Trump is the first ex-president of the United States to be criminally charged by federal justice and the charges against him are serious.
In January 2021, Donald Trump left the White House to settle in his luxurious residence in Florida and took dozens of boxes with him.
Pressed to return them by the National Archives - to which a law entrusts the care of keeping all the presidential files - he returns a year later 15 boxes, in which there are nearly 200 classified documents.
In June 2022, FBI agents came to Palm Beach to retrieve 38 additional classified documents, put aside by the former president's lawyers.
Convinced that there was still something missing, the investigators returned in August, armed this time with a search warrant. They leave with about thirty boxes containing 11,000 documents, including nuclear plans from a foreign power.
The court file remains sealed, but one of his lawyers detailed seven charges on CNN.
One of them, for "retention of documents involving national security", stems from a law on espionage dating from 1917, which prohibits keeping state secrets in unauthorized and unsecured places.
For him to be convicted on this count, punishable by ten years in prison, the prosecutors will have to prove that he knew how to hold classified documents. On an audio recording made in July 2021, and revealed by CNN, he boasts of having in front of him a “highly confidential” document.
Another charge brought against him, for "obstruction of justice", is punishable by 20 years in prison. This time, prosecutors will have to demonstrate that Donald Trump intentionally withheld information from investigators, including during their visit to Mar-a-Lago in June 2022.
They should press on images captured by surveillance cameras the day before their arrival, on which we see club employees moving boxes, report several media.
The billionaire also faces up to five years in prison for "false testimony". This count appears to be linked to a letter sent by his lawyers to the Department of Justice which included inaccurate assurances.
Donald Trump is summoned Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT) before a federal court in Miami which will formally notify him of the charges against him.
According to the Washington Post and the New York Times, his case was assigned to a conservative magistrate he named, Aileen Cannon.
At this hearing, he is expected to plead not guilty.
The judge will also set the conditions to be respected while waiting for his trial. It is extremely unlikely that she will ask for the former president to be kept in preventive detention.
In the process, the prosecution and the defense will exchange to agree on technical points, in particular on the delicate sharing of information related to classified documents.
The prosecutors will no doubt try to go as quickly as possible in order to organize his trial ahead of the presidential election in November 2024.
To avoid a long debate on the competent court in this case, they have already transferred the file to Miami although it has been heard in Washington.
The charges against him are heavy and the prosecutors seem to have built up a substantial file over several months.
The holding of the trial in Florida, where the Republican enjoys a much more favorable image than in Washington, will however play against them at the time of the selection of the jurors. And the real estate mogul on Friday began recruiting new lawyers to lead the fight.
Even if he were sentenced to prison before the election, he could legally remain a candidate. Politically, this is unlikely to discourage his supporters who, so far, fully adhere to his accusations of political machination.
The result of the election would then be crucial: a victory would protect him from prison. Not a loss.
09/06/2023 18:02:17 - Washington (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
