American justice believed that it was possible to find evidence of obstruction of justice at the home of the former American president.
An explosive document. This Friday, American justice unveiled, as expected, a 32-page document which aims to justify the FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The aim was also to respond to the former president, who said the proceedings were just an unwarranted “witch hunt”.
• Donald Trump may have violated the Espionage Act
The document shows that the American authorities suspect Donald Trump of having violated the Espionage Act, a law on espionage which very severely regulates the possession of confidential documents. However, some were found in the home of the billionaire.
Donald Trump assures that the documents in his possession had been declassified when he left the White House. However, as stated in the New York Times, it may not be enough. Indeed, the law does not dwell on the classified or declassified status of a document, but punishes the “illegal retention of information related to national defense”, can we read in the court document.
If the Department of Justice follows this idea, Donald Trump could therefore be prosecuted, but no information to this effect is explicitly given in the document.
• A largely redacted document
As often, such sensitive American documents are largely redacted. This one is no exception, as many lines are covered in black to keep information secret. American justice justifies this choice by the need to protect FBI agents.
“Officers who have been publicly identified in connection with this investigation have received threats of violence from the public,” authorities said.
In addition to this, the memo explains that information in the document could also help identify witnesses who are cooperating with investigators.
• Donald Trump was uncooperative
We have to go back to February 2022 for the first discovery of classified documents at Donald Trump. The National Archives had just recovered 15 boxes which were stored in the residence of the ex-president. They had asked Donald Trump to return missing documents from May 6, 2021. It took several reminders for the billionaire’s team to respond positively to their request at the end of December 2021.
This may in particular partly explain one of the justifications for the search. The Department of Justice memo explains that the investigators had “reason to believe that evidence of an obstruction would be found”.
• An entourage that turns against Donald Trump?
Beyond the documents found at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI apparently relied on statements against Donald Trump to justify this search. The document thus claims a “significant number of civilian witnesses”, without giving their identity.
