By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 2 hours ago, updated 1 hour ago
Former US President Donald Trump. BRIAN SNYDER/Portal
The move paves the way for a possible impeachment against the former US president, who is hoping for a new term in 2024.
According to several American media outlets, including CNN and the New York Times, federal prosecutors have told Donald Trump’s attorneys that the former president has been personally targeted as part of the investigation into the management of the White House archives.
This new move, which paves the way to a possible impeachment against the former American president, is an additional legal thorn for those hoping for a new mandate in 2024 after they left Washington in 2021 and refused to return them, which is a violation of federal law. US media won’t say when the former president was briefed, but according to CNN, his lawyers met with Justice Department officials Monday, including Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is tasked with independently overseeing the investigation.
Donald Trump, currently well ahead of the other candidates for the Republican nomination, has consistently denounced any embezzlement and portrayed himself as a victim of “political persecution.” “How could the Justice Department indict me if I did nothing,” wrote he spoke to the Truth Social network on Monday when his lawyers were received by officials from that ministry.
11,000 documents, some of which are very sensitive
In the United States, a 1978 law requires all American presidents to send all their letters, e-mails, and other working documents to the national archives. Another espionage law prohibits anyone from storing classified documents in unauthorized and unsecured locations. When leaving the presidency to settle into the luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence, Donald Trump nevertheless took entire boxes of files with him. In January 2022, after several reminders, he agreed to the return of 15 boxes containing more than 200 classified documents. In a letter, his lawyers then assured that there were no more.
However, after the investigation, federal police concluded that he had not returned everything and that he still kept much of it at his Palm Beach club. On August 8, FBI agents went there and seized around thirty other boxes containing 11,000 documents, some of which were very sensitive to Iran or China. His lawyers strongly condemned a media operation and slammed the FBI for what they felt was a needless release of a photo of confiscated documents marked “Top Secret” scattered on a floral patterned rug.
“Embarrassing Findings”
In a bid to silence conspiracy allegations, Attorney General Merrick Garland hired Special Counsel Jack Smith to oversee the investigation and further investigate Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol attack. Another special prosecutor is also investigating classified documents found by his attorneys at a former office and home of Democratic President Joe Biden earlier this year. These embarrassing finds, along with others from ex-Vice President Mike Pence, allowed Donald Trump to downplay his behavior, though Joe Biden has consistently cooperated with justice and voluntarily returned the documents, in much smaller numbers.
The Republican People’s Tribune also used his rival’s discoveries to rally his supporters, who close ranks around him whenever justice strikes him. This was particularly the case in April, when the New York State Judiciary charged him with falsifying accounting records related to paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election in return for his silence on an alleged affair. It was the first time in American history that a former president had been prosecuted.
A Georgia state attorney who has been investigating Republican pressure to change the 2020 presidential election for months is expected to announce the outcome of her investigation in September.