Andrew Weissmann, a former longtime prosecutor with the feds whose decades of government service included a stint working on the Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is expressing confidence that Donald Trump will face criminal charges in the federal investigation into his handling of classified documents from his time as president.
“MAL case: Trump will be charged given: -crimes (taking/retaining USG docs, obstruction/lying to USG, & likely disseminating classified info) -docs (Top secret SCI) -nature of proof (tapes, multiple witnesses, inconsistent DJT statements) & -DOJ charging those far less culpable,” Weissmann wrote recently on Twitter. “MAL” is an abbreviation for Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort where many classified documents were recovered after Donald left office, and “USG” refers to the United States federal government.
There have recently been at least a couple of pretty substantial developments in the classified documents investigation, which is led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. For starters, reports in the media have revealed the existence of a recording that evidently captures Trump bragging about his continued harboring of a classified document (ostensibly related to Mark Milley and Iran) — and on the tape, he reportedly can be heard acknowledging this claimed document’s classification status. That could implicate him in the knowing retention of classified materials outside the established rules for handling such documents — and it could implicate him in knowing violations of prohibitions on sharing such materials with third parties, considering he’s also suspected of providing access to some of the secretive files he had.
News reports have also said the grand jury that’s been hearing evidence in the documents probe will be gathering again after a break. Generally, any charges in this investigation would need jury approval, just like Trump’s charges received in his criminal case in Manhattan. In other words, the jurors getting back together could suggest the approval of criminal charges in the near future, though that’s presently just speculation.
MAL case: Trump will be charged given:
-crimes (taking/retaining USG docs, obstruction/lying to USG, & likely disseminating classified info)
-docs (Top secret SCI)
-nature of proof (tapes, multiple witnesses, inconsistent DJT statements) &
-DOJ charging those far less culpable.— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) June 1, 2023
